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NEW  THOUGTIT  LIBRARY 
ASSOCIATION' 

No. 


REMARKS 


ALCHEMY  AND  THE  ALCHEMISTS, 

INDICATIXG    A   METHOD    OF   DISCOVEKI^'G 
THE   TEUE    NATURE   OF 

HERMETIC    PHILOSOPHY; 


A^D  SHOWING  THAT  THE  SEARCH  AFTER 


HAD    NOT    FOR    ITS    OBJECT    THE    DISCOVERY   OF    AN    AGENT 
FOR  THE 

TRANSMUTATION    OF    METALS. 

BEING  ALSO  AS   ATTEMPT  TO  RESCUE  FROM  UNDESERVED 

OPPROBRIUM  THE  REPUTATION 

OF  A  CLASS  OF 

EXTEAORDIXARY  THINKEES  IN  PAST  AGES. 


'  Man  shall  not  live  by  bread  alone." 


BOSTON: 
CROSBY,    NICHOLS,    AND    COMPANY, 

111  Washington  Street. 

1857. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1857,  by 

Crosby,  Nichols,  and   Company, 

in  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  District  of  Massachusetts. 


cambsidge: 
metcalf  and  company,   printers  to  the  tjnrversitt. 


NE¥/  THOUGHT  LIBRARY 

ASSOCIATION 
No. 


PEEFACE. 

ED.W.  PARKER, 

Little  Ruck,  Ark. 

It  may  seem  superfluous  in  the  author  of  the  fol- 
lowing remarks  to  disclaim  the  purpose  of  re vi vino- 
the  study  of  Alchemy,  or  the  method  of  teaching 
adopted  by  the  Alchemists.  Alchemical  works  stand 
related  to  moral  and  intellectual  geography,  some- 
what as  the  skeletons  of  ichthyosauri  and  plesio- 
sauri  are  related  to  geology.  They  are  skeletons 
of  thought  in  past  ages. 

It  is  chiefly  from  this  point  of  view  that  the  writer 
of  the  following  pages  submits  his  opinions  upon 
Alchemy  to  the  public.  He  is  convinced  that  the 
character  of  the  Alchemists,  and  the  object  of  their 
study,  have  been  almost  universally  misconceived  ; 
and  as  a  matter  of  fact^  though  of  the  past,  he 
thinks  it  of  sufficient  importance  to  take  a  step  in 
the  right  direction  for  developing  the  true  nature  of 
the  studies  of  that  extraordinary  class  of  thinkers. 

The   opinion  has  become  almost  universal,  that 


V3' 


IV  PREFACE. 

Alchemy  was  a  "  pretended  science  by  which  gold 
and  silver  were  to  be  made  by  the- transmutation 
of  the  baser  metals  into  these  substances,  the 
agent  of  the  transmutation  being  called  the  phi- 
losopher's stone."  Those  who  professed  this  Art 
are  supposed  to  have  been  either  impostors  or 
under  a  delusion  created  by  impostors  and  moun- 
tebanks. This  opinion  has  found  its  way  into 
works  on  Science,  and  has  been  stereotyped  in 
biographical  dictionaries  and  in  encyclopaedias, 
large  and  small ;  and,  in  general,  allusions  to  Al- 
chemy, in  histories,  romances,  and  novels,  are  of 
but  one  character,  and  imply  that  the  professors  of 
the  Art  were  either  deluders  or  deluded,  —  were 
guilty  of  fraud  or  the  victims  of  it. 

It  may  be  a  hopeless  task  to  announce  a  differ- 
ent persuasion  with  the  expectation  of  superseding 
this  deeply  rooted  prejudice  ;  but  the  author  thinks 
it  a  duty  to  declare  the  opinion  he  has  derived 
from  a  careful  reading  of  many  alchemical  vol- 
umes, and  in  the  following  remarks  he  has  taken 
for  his  thesis  the  proposition  that  Man  was  the 
subject  of  Alchemy ;  and  that  the  object  of  the  Art 
was  the  perfection,  or  at  least  the  improvement,  of 
INIan. 

The  salvation  of  man  —  his  transformation  from 


PREFACE.  V 

evil  to  good,  or  his  passage  from  a  state  of  nature 
to  a  state  of  ,  grace  —  was  symbolized  under  the 
figure  of  the  transmutation  of  metals.  Under 
this  point  of  view  the  works  of  the  Alchemists 
may  be  regarded  as  treatises  upon  religious  edu 
cation,  though  they  may  now  only  serve  to  show 
past  opinions  upon  this  important  subject. 

The  writings  of  the  Alchemists  are  all  symbol- 
ical, and  under  the  words  gold,  silver,  lead,  salt, 

ulphur,  mercury,  antimony,  arsenic,  orpiment,  sol, 
luna,  wine,  acid,  alkali,  and  a  thousand  other 
words  and  expressions,  infinitely  varied,  may  be 
found  the  opinions  of  the  several  writers  upon  the 
^.3at  questions  of  God,  nature,  and  man,  all  brought 
into  or  developed  from  one  central  point,  which  is 

Man,  as  the  image  of  God. 

The  author  is  perfectly  aware  of  the  latitude  of 
interpretation  to  which  all  symbolical  writings  are 
exposed,  and  that  it  is  possible  for  an  undisci- 
plined imagination  to  make  from  such  writings 
anything  of  anything^  and  indeed  to  make  almost 
anything  of  nothing.  He  needs  no  schooling  on 
this  subject,  but  feels  himself,  on  the  contrary,  in  a 
position  to  justify  his  warning  the  readers  of  all 
symbolical  works,  that  they  cannot  be  too  cau- 
tious   and    guarded    against   supplying   from    their 


Vl  PREFACE. 

own  imaginations  and  afterthoughts,  interpreta- 
tions to  all  such  works.  They  should  hold  them- 
selves absolutely  upon  the  immovable  foundation 
of  truth  and  nature,  whereby  alone  they  can  save 
themselves  from  misapprehensions  and  from  the 
danger  of  being  carried  entirely  away  from  reality 
into  mere  dreams  and  fictions.  But  with  the 
proper  guards,  supplied  by  sound  theory  and  a 
knowledge  of  nature,  it  is  extremely  interesting, 
and  the  author  thinks  instructive,  to  interpret  by- 
gone forms  of  thought,  even  in  alchemical  volumes, 
in  which  it  is  quite  possible  that  many  precious 
jewels  may  be  found,  though  the  philosopher's 
stone  be  missed. 

It  would  be  a  useless  labor  to  enter  here  upon  a 
defence  of  symbolic  writing,  when  nothing  is  more 
certain  than  that  men  of  genius  in  all  ages,  seem- 
ingly by  a  constraint  of  nature,  have  fallen  into  it. 
That  the  Sacred  Scriptures  are  full  of  it  must  be 
confessed  by  all  who  are  not  in  a  condition  to 
read  as  literal  truth  the  history  of  Robinson  Cru- 
soe and  of  Gulliver's  Travels ;  —  not  that  the  au- 
thor would  institute  a  comparison  between  these 
works  and  the  sacred  writings.  He  only  means, 
by  a  reference  to  the  Revelation,  to  the  story  of 
the    man  of  Uz,  to  the  beautiful  parables  of  the 


PREFACE.  Vn 

New  Testament,  &c.,  to  show  that  teaching  by- 
way of  similitude,  parable,  fable,  allegory,  or,  in 
one  word,  by  symbolism,  is  as  old  as  writing  itself. 

While  this  form  of  teaching  appears  naturally 
to  have  been  adopted  by  genius,  from  the  earliest 
time,  its  preservation  seems  due  to  a  correspond- 
ing working  in  the  human  mind,  to  which  all 
symbolism  is  addressed.  It  is  plain  that,  if  a  sym- 
bolic work  finds  no  echo  in  the  human  heart,  it 
must  perish  ;  while,  for  this  very  reason,  where 
such  works  have  been  preserved  through  many 
ages,  it  affords  a  fair  presumption  that  their  au- 
thors have  struck  a  vein  of  imperishable  truth. 

This  species  of  writing  is  also  the  most  inno- 
cent in  the  world,  for  the  reason,  that,  while  its 
literal  sense  is  very  frequently  no  sense  at  all,  and 
is  therefore  harmless,  its  hidden  sense,  as  intended 
by  its  author,  must  be  equally  harmless;  for  if 
the  sense  intended  does  not  exist  in  nature,  no 
counterpart  is  discoverable,  and  nothing  permanent 
can  come  from  it;  while,  if  an  echo  is  readily  found, 
the  symbolism  must  be  true,  —  and  all  truth  is 
valuable. 

In  the  case  of  the  Alchemists,  who  promised 
heaps  of  riches,  it  is  admitted  that  multitudes 
of  men  were  deluded  by  the  mere  literal  reading 


Vlll  PREFACE. 

of  their  works,  or  rather  by  their  own  absorbing 
desire  of  wealth.  Such  men  were  said,  by  the 
Alchemists,  to  have  "  the  gold  fever,  which  had 
darkened  their  senses."  Men  wholly  bent  on  world- 
ly treasures  were  rather  the  dupes  of  their  own 
passions  than  deceived  by  the  writings  of  the  Al- 
chemists, more  especially  since  their  writings  are 
full  of  cautions  against  this  very  misunderstanding. 
The  riches  they  promised  were  "  the  riches  of  the 
wisdom  and  knowledge  of  God  "  (Rom.  xi.  33), 
and  "  of  his  grace  "   (Ephes.  ii.  7). 

The  Alchemists  were  Reformers  in  their  time, 
obliged  indeed  to  work  in  secret,  but  nevertheless 
making  their  impression  upon  the  public.  They 
lived,  for  the  most  part,  in  an  age  when  an  open 
expression  of  their  opinions  would  have  brought 
them  into  conflict  with  the  superstition  of  the 
time,  and  thus  exposed  them  to  the  stake ;  —  where, 
indeed,  many  of  them  perished,  not  having  been 
sufficiently  guarded  in  their  language. 

They  were  religious  men  when  the  spirit  of  re- 
ligion w^as  buried  in  forms  and  ceremonies,  and 
when  the  priesthood  had  armed  itself  with  the 
civil  power  to  put  down  all  opposition,  and  sup- 
press all  freedom,  intellectual,  civil,  moral,  and 
religious. 


PREFACE.  IX 

It  was  in  that  midnight  of  darkness  that  a  light 
from  heaven,  as  it  seemed,  was  treated  of,  in  books 
for  the  initiated,  as  the  Elixir  of  Life,  the  Water 
of  Life,  the  Universal  Medicine,  and  the  Philoso- 
phers  Stone. 

The  volumes  in  which  this  thought  of  the  time 
was  enshrined  were  ^vritten  in  symbolic  form,  to 
hide  the  subject  from  the  crowd,  not  in  a  condi- 
tion to  profit  by  it,  and  to  screen  the  authors  from 
persecution.  They  are  now  measurably  forgot- 
ten, and,  the  occasion  of  them  having  passed  away, 
will  never  be  revived  and  studied  on  their  own 
account ;  but  they  yet  exist  for  us  and  for  future 
times  as  marvellous  skeletons^  where  may  be  found 
abundant  evidences  that  there  were  "  giants  in 
those  days,"  though  they  made  but  little  show  in 
the  world,  living  as  they  did  in  retirement,  upon 
the  '•  still,  small  voice,"  wherein  lay  chiefly  their 
so  much  talked  of  secret. 

In  reading  their  works,  with  a  knowledge  of  the 
historical  position  of  the  writers,  one  is  strongly  re- 
minded of  the  query  of  Sir  Thomas  Browne.  Who 
knows,  says  he,  whether  better  men  have  not  been 
forgot,  than  stand  recorded  in  the  book  of  time,  who 
nevertheless  may  be  registered  in  the  book  of  God  ? 

I  have  examined  a  great  many  alchemical  works, 


X  PREFACE. 

at  a  time  of  life  and  under  circumstances  when  the 
imagination,  if  it  ever  deceived  me,  has  "  yielded  its 
plumage,"  and  I  feel  entirely  able,  as  I  am  certainly 
willing,  to  see  things  as  they  are.  I  therefore  say, 
after  much  study  and  deliberation,  that  the  works 
of  the  genuine  Alchemists,  excluding  those  of  igno- 
rant imitators  and  mischievous  impostors,  are  all 
essentially  religious,  and  that  the  best  external  as- 
sistance for  their  interpretation  may  be  found  in  a 
study  of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  and  chiefly  in  the 
New  Testament,  —  that  "  light  which  was,  before 
the  light,"  being  by  no  means,  and  on  no  account, 
overlooked. 

There  was  no  doubt  an  abundance  of  impostors 
who  played  upon  the  credulity  and  cupidity  of  the 
public,  but  the  genuine  Alchemists  were  religious 
men,  who  passed  their  time  in  legitimate  pursuits, 
earning  an  honest  subsistence,  and  in  religious  con- 
templations, studying  how  to  realize  in  themselves 
the  union  of  the  divine  and  human  nature,  expressed 
in  man  by  an  enlightened  submission  to  God's  will ; 
and  they  thought  out  and  published,  after  a  manner 
of  their  own,  a  method  of  attaining  or  entering  upon 
this  state,  as  the  only  rest  of  the  soul. 

The  following  little  poem  admirably  ''  shadows  " 
the  life  the  adepts  sought  to  reach  :  — 


PREFACE.  XI 

"  There  is  an  isle 
Full,  as  they  say,  of  good  things;  —  fruits  and  trees 
And  pleasant  verdure  :  a  very  master-piece 
Of  nature's  ;  where  the  men  immortally 
Live,  following  all  delights  and  pleasures.     There 
Is  not,  nor  ever  hath  been,  "Winter's  cold 
Or  Summer's  heat,  the  season  still  the  same, — 
One  gracious  Spring,  where  all,  e'en  those  worst  used 
By  fortune,  are  content.    Earth  willingly 
Pours  out  her  blessing  :  the  words  "thine"  and  '"mine" 
Are  not  known  'mongst  them  :  all  is  common,  free 
From  pain  and  jealous  grudging.    Keason  rules, 
Not  fantasy :  every  one  knows  well 
"What  he  would  ask  of  other ;  every  one 
What  to  command :  thus  every  one  hath  that 
"Which  he  doth  ask ;  what  is  commanded,  does. 
This  island  hath  the  name  of  Fortunate : 
And,  as  they  tell,  is  governed  by  a  Queen 
"Well  spoken  and  discreet,  and  therewithal 
So  beautiful,  that,  with  one  single  beam 
Of  her  great  beauty,  all  the  country  round 
Is  rendered  shining.    "When  she  sees  arrive 
(As  there  are  many  so  exceeding  curious 
They  have  no  fear  of  danger  'fore  their  eyes) 
Those  who  come  suing  to  her,  and  aspire 
After  the  happiness  which  she  to  each 
Doth  promise  in  her  city,  she  doth  make 
The  strangers  come  together ;  and  forthwith, 
Ere  she  consenteth  to  retain  them  there, 
Sends  for  a  certain  season  all  to  sleep. 
"When  they  have  slept  so  much  as  there  is  need. 
Then  wake  they  them  again,  and  summon  them 


Xll  PREFACE. 

Into  her  presence.    There  avails  them  not 

Excuse  or  caution ;  speech  however  bland, 

Or  importunity  of  cries.    Each  bears 

That  on  his  forehead  written  visibly, 

Whereof  he  hath  been  dreaming.     They  whose  dreams 

Have  been  of  birds  and  hounds,  are  straight  dismissed  ; 

And  at  her  royal  mandate  led  away, 

To  dwell  thenceforward  with  such  beasts  as  these. 

He  who  hath  dreamed  of  sconces  broken,  war, 

And  turmoil,  and  sedition,  glory  won, 

And  highest  feats  achieved,  is,  in  like  guise, 

An  exile  from  her  court ;  whilst  one  whose  brow 

Is  pale,  and  dead,  and  withered,  showing  care 

Of  pelf  and  riches,  she  no  less  denies 

To  be  his  queen  and  mistress.    None,  in  brief, 

Rescrv^es  she  of  the  dreamers  in  her  isle, 

Save  him,  that,  when  awakened  he  returns, 

Betrayeth  tokens  tliat  of  her  rare  beauty 

His  dreams  have  been.     So  great  delight  hath  she 

In  being  and  in  seeming  beautiful. 

Such  dreamer  is  right  welcome  to  her  isle. 

All  this  is  held  a  fable :  but  who  first 
Made  and  recited  it  hath,  in  this  fable, 
Shadowed  a  Truth."  * 

"  The  Philosophers,"  says  Flammel,  "  have  a 
garden,  where  the  sun  as  well  morning  as  even- 
ing remains  with  a  most  sweet  dew,  without  ceas- 

*  Heriot  de  Borderie,  (16th  century,)  translated  by  Gary. 


PREFACE.  Xlll 

ing,  with  which  it  is  moistened ;  whose  earth  brings 
forth  trees  and  fruits,  which  are  transplan,ted  thither, 
which  also  receive  nourishment  from  the  pleasant 
meadows.  And  this  is  done  daily  :  and  there  they 
are  corroborated  and  quickened,  without  ever  fad- 
ing ;  and  this  more  in  one  year  than  in  a  thousand 
where  the  cold  affects  them." 

Let  an  idea  of  the  isle  or  garden  gleam  upon  the 
soul  as  an  attainable  object,  and  the  experience  of 
that  idea  will  explain  much  of  the  literature  of  past 
ages ;  especially  such  poems  as  the  Romaunt  of 
the  Rose,  translated  by  Chaucer.  It  may  afford  a 
hint  in  explanation  of  those  Love  Tales,  the  abuse 
of  which  style  of  writing  brought  out  Cervantes  ; 
and,  indeed,  the  large  class  of  poems,  as  well  as 
tales,  excluding  the  base  imitations,  the  counterfeit 
coin,  known  as  the  Love  Literature  of  the  Middle 
Ages,  will  find  their  interpretation  in  that  idea,  in- 
cluding the  Sonnets  and  the  Triumphs  of  Petrarch, 
and  even  the  Divina  Commedia  itself. 

If  to  yearn  for  such  a  life  was  folly,  and  is  judged 
incompatible  with  the  practical  demands  upon  man 
living  under  the  so-called  curse  of  labor,  it  was  at 
least  an  innocent  folly,  with  which  the  world  has 
never  been  overburdened ;  and  the  few  who  found, 
or  thought  they  found,  >their  rest  in  that  Eden,  may 


XIV  PREFACE. 

be  pardoned  by  those  who  glory  in  what  they  call  a 
more  enlightened  age.  Even  to  seek  it  had  a  charm 
which  smoothed  the  hardest  external  fate,  as  un- 
doubtedly it  supported  many  while  suffering  in  the 
flames  lighted  by  the  Inquisition. 

But,  as  I  have  elsewhere  said,  that  Life  is  like  an 
Art,  which  must  be  sought,  if  sought  at  all,  for  itself, 
and  not  for  its  rewards.  Admission  into  the  gar- 
dens of  the  Hesperides  is  accorded  only  to  those 
whose  "  dreams  "  are  exclusively  upon  the  "beauty  " 
of  the  presiding  queen  ;  for  —  and  the  reader  may 
ponder  on  this  principle  —  the  success  is  contained 
in  the  dream  itself,  and  is  developed  from  it,  just 
as  every  desire  contains  an  essence  of  its  own, 
which  works  itself  into  manifestation,  whether  it  be 
good  or  whether  it  be  evil ;  —  but  its  quality  is  not 
to  be  estimated  by  what  it  accomplishes  outwardly, 
but  by  what  it  deposits,  that  is,  to  use  the  language 
of  Alchemy,  by  the  salt  it  leaves  in  the  soul  where  it 
originates. 

I  think  proper  to  add,  that  my  original  design  in 
preparing  these  Remarks  was  simply  to  express  a 
mere  opinion,  and  support  it  by  a  few  citations 
from  the  works  on  Alchemy,  and  I  thought  a  small 
pamphlet  would  answer  this  purpose.  I  have  un- 
expectedly exceeded   the  size   of  a  pamphlet,  and 


PREFACE.  XV 


find  it  necessary  to  go  to  press  in  a  book  form, 
though  I  did  not  aspire  to  "  write  a  book."  But 
although  my  appearance  must  be  more  formal  than 
I  intended,  I  desire  to  say  that  nothing  original,  as 
coming  from  myself,  need  be  looked  for  in  the  vol- 
ume. Whatever  interest  the  work  may  have  will 
be  due  to  the  class  of  men  I  have  written  about, 
who  have  furnished  me  with  materials,  and  espe- 
cially with  extracts  from  their  own  writings,  which 
I  have  been  obliged  to  use  freely  in  support  of  a 
simple  opinion  in  regard  to  their  labors  and  studies. 
This  opinion,  I  am  very  sure,  has  some  novelty  to 
the  present  generation,  and,  if  well  founded,  must 
then  have  some  interest ;  though  it  may  commend 
itself  principally  to  speculative  men  who  dehght  in 
a  study  but  little  regarded  in  our  ^'  practical  age." 
But  neither  steam  power  nor  telegraphs,  with  all 
their  admitted  wonders,  themselves  the  product  of 
the  human  mind,  can  ever  destroy  in  man  the  ten- 
dency to  search  into  the  arcana  of  his  own  sublime 
and  all  but  infinite  nature,  in  whose  "  heart,"  as  we 
read  in  the  Holy  Scriptures,  God  hath  ''  set  the 
world." 

E.  A.  H. 
St.  Louis,  Missouei,  January,  1857. 


REMARKS 


UPON 


ALCHEMY  AND  THE  ALCHEMISTS 


Some  two  years  since,  I  printed  a  small  pamphlet 
on  the  subject  of  Alchemy,  my  object  being  to  throw 
out  an  idea  with  which  I  was  strongly  impressed, 
that  the  Philosopher' s  Stone  was  a  mere  symbol, 
and  that  the  Alchemists  were  not  in  pursuit  of  gold, 
but  of  wisdom,  carefully  and  conscientiously  leav- 
ing the  latter  word  undefined.  The  pamphlet  was 
intended  for  the  eye  of  my  friends,  and  was  not 
published  or  put  on  sale,  though  I  was  not  unwill- 
ing to  have  it  circulated  among  the  curious  who 
might  be  likely  to  look  into  the  proposition  I  an- 
nounced. It  has  been  noticed  in  the  Westmin- 
ster Review  for  October,  1856,  and  the  decision 
therein  expressed,  adverse  to  my  view,  has  induced 
me  to  fortify  my  opinions  by  additional  reasons, 
and  by  citations  from  alchemical  works. 

When  I  printed  the  pamphlet,  I  had  read  but  a 

2* 


18  ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS. 

few,  some  half  a  dozen,  works  on  Alchemy,  and 
my  opinions  were  necessarily  of  a  negative  kind. 
I  did  not  then,  nor  do  I  now,  undertake  to  say 
precisely  what  the  Alchemists  sought.  I  was  pos- 
itive, however,  that  they  were  not  in  pursuit  of 
gold  or  of  worldly  honors ;  and  I  am  still  of  this 
opinion.  I  thought  their  object  was  religious,  in 
which  I  am  also  fully  confirmed  by  a  further  ex- 
amination of  alchemical  works,  of  which  I  have 
obtained  many  since  my  pamphlet  was  printed. 

I  feel  now  somewhat  better  prepared  to  express 
an  opinion  upon  their  real  object,  though  1  wish 
to  say,  once  for  all,  that  the  subject  is  still  one  of 
inquiry  with  me.  I  will  endeavor,  nevertheless,  to 
state  what  I  suppose  they  really  sought,  or  at  least 
the  commencement  of  the  work  ;  yet  I  desire  not 
to  be  considered  as  enlisting  myself  in  defence  of 
what  I  regard  as  the  philosophy  of  those  extraor- 
dinary writers. 

But  first  I  must  say  a  word  of  the  article  in  the 
Review^.  There  is  placed  at  the  head  of  it  the 
titles  of  three  works,  if  my  little  pamphlet  may 
be  called  one.  The  first  is  that  of  a  French  writ- 
er, Louis  Figuier  (1854),  entitled  Alchewy  and  the 
Alchemists^  or  a  Historical  and  Critical  Essay  vpon 
Hermeiical  Philosophy. 


ALCHEMY  AND  THE  ALCHEMISTS.         19 

*The  second  is  that  of  a  German,  Dr.  Herman 
Kopp  (1843-44),  entitled  TJie  History  of  Chemistry, 

The  third  is  that  of  my  pamphlet,  in  which  I 
express  the  opinion  that  the  Philosopher's  Stone 
is  a  mere  symbol,  signifying  something  which 
could  not  be  expressed  openly  without  incurring 
the  danger  of  an  auto  da  fe. 

The  title  of  the  German  work  shows  that  the 
author  must  have  taken  up  the  subject  of  Alchemy 
only  in  its  relation  to  chemistry;  as  perhaps  its 
precursor,  which  it  really  was.  He  regarded  Al- 
chemy from  the  modern  point  of  view  of  chemistry, 
and  probably  examined  alchemical  works  for  the 
purpose  only  of  pointing  out  his  opinion  of  the 
relation  of  Alchemy  to  the  modern  science  of 
chemistry.  In  the  prosecution  of  such  a  work, 
therefore,  it  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  the  secret 
of  the  Alchemists,  if  they  had  one,  would  become 
recognizable,  and  all  that  can  be  expected  from 
Dr.  Kopp,  in  the  premises,  must  be  secondary  and 
subordinate,  so  far  as  Alchemy  is  concerned.  Yet 
I  shall  show  that  even  Dr.  Kopp,  though  writing 
professedly  of  chemistry  and  not  of  Alchemy,  had 
some  opinion  bordering  on  the  truth  in  regard  to 
the  real  object  of  the  latter,  though  he  did  not 
choose  to  explain  it  at  length,  because  his  proper 
subject,  Chemistry,  did  not  require  it. 


20         ALCHEMY  AND  THE  ALCHEMISTS. 

Pass  now  to  M.  Figuier,  and  it  must  be  observed 
that  the  Reviewer  expresses  the  opinion  very  de- 
cidedly that  the  French  writer,  though  he  enlarges 
upon  the  title  of  the  German  author,  has  neverthe- 
less drawn  all  of  his  materials  from  the  laborious 
German,  comparing  him  to  a  parasite  living  upon 
the  vitality  of  the  massy  German. 

Upon  this  state  of  the  case,  as  we  have  no  right 
to  expect  a  treatise  upon  Alchemy  from  the  Ger- 
man, much  less  can  we  look  for  such  a  treatise 
in  the  French  work. 

But  this  is  not  all ;  the  writer  in  the  Review  very 
candidly  and  honestly  admits,  that,  in  the  prepa- 
ration of  his  article,  he  has  depended  upon  the 
Frenchman  and  the  German ;  so  that  what  was 
not  even  wine  in  the  original  is  twice  diluted  in 
the  Westminster  Review  article. 

In  short,  the  writer  of  the  article  knows  nothing 
of  the  Alchemists  from  an  examination  of  their 
works,  and  takes  his  opinions  from  others ;  from 
a  Frenchman  who  drew  his  materials  from  a  Ger- 
man, and  a  German  who  did  not  treat  of  Alchemy 
except  incidentally  to  his  subject,  the  History  of 
Cheinistry. 

Nothing  further  need  be  said  to  show  that  neither 
the  article  in  the  Review  nor  the  French  work  can 


ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS.  21 

furnish  any  satisfactory  information  upon  the  sub- 
ject of  Alchemy. 

To  refer  now  more  especially  to  the  work  of 
M.  Figuier,  which  is  before  me,  I  observe  that  all 
of  his  citations  from  alchemical  works,  to  illustrate 
,  the  alleged  extravagance  and  absurdity  of  their  au- 
thors, are  expressly  credited  to  Dr.  Kopp  in  these 
remarkable  words :  "  Maintenant^  ajoute  M.  Kopp, 
a  qui  nous  empruntons  les  citations  precedents,  si 
Von  entend  par  monde  le  microcosm  que  Phomme 
represente,  V interpretation  sera  facile.^'' 

How  could  the  French  author  overlook  the  plain 
signification  of  this  remarkable  passage,  in  which 
Dr.  Kopp  says  expressly,  that,  by  considering  the 
icorld  as  the  microcosm  which  inan  represents,  it 
icoidd  he  easy  to  interpret  the  writings  of  the  Al- 
chemists, or  at  least  the  citations  made  by  himself 
to  exhibit  their  opinions  or  mode  of  procedure  ? 
But  the  French  writer  takes  no  notice  of  this  ad- 
mission of  the  German,  so  honorable  to  his  pene- 
tration, but  proceeds  immediately  to  characterize 
the  Alchemists  as  guilty  of  "  deplorable  aberrations, 
the  product  of  a  delirious  imagination,  the  disor- 
ders of  which  exceed  all  power  of  analysis." 

The  English  Reviewer  also  overlooks  the  pregnant 
hint  of  the  German,  and,  throwing  himself  into  the 


22         ALCHEMY  AND  THE  ALCHEMISTS. 

arms  of  the  Frenchman,  quotes  at  third  hand  a 
number  of  passages,  detached  from  their  proper 
connection,  for  the  purpose  of  showing  up  the  ab- 
surdity of  the  philosophical  stone  seekers,  absolutely 
blind  as  to  their  real  object. 

Leaving,  therefore,  the  French  writer  and  the  Re- 
viewer  to  feed  upon  the  fragments  they  have  elected 
to  deal  with,  I  take  up  the  citation  from  Dr.  Kopp, 
and  will  endeavor  to  substantiate  the  accuracy  of 
his  hint,  and  show  that  the  Alchemists,  in  all  their 
writings,  had  Man  in  view,  regarding  him  as  a 
microcosm,  or  miniature  of  the  great  world  ;  or,  as 
they  are  fond  of  quoting,  as  the  Image  of  God,  in 
the  language  of  Moses. 

My  proposition  is,  that  the  subject  of  Alchemy 
was  Man;  while  the  object  was  the  perfection  of 
Man,  which  was  supposed  to  centre  in  a  certain 
unity  with  the  Divine  nature. 

All  of  the  Alchemists,  so  far  as  I  have  examined 
their  writings,  might  place  in  the  "  fore-front "  of 
their  works  a  number  of  the  most  enlightening 
passages  from  Scripture,  as  indicating  their  doc- 
trines and  objects  ;  among  them  the  following, 
which  I  will  recite  at  large,  to  save  the  trouble 
of  a  reference,  and  I  will  copy  them  with  some 
general  view  to  the  order  of  the  "  great  work,"  as 
the  Alchemists  call  their  Art. 

/ 


ALCHEMY    Ax\D    THE    ALCHEMISTS.  23 

"  Blessed  are  they  which  do  hunger  and  thirst 
after  righteousness  :  for  they  shall  be  filled." 

"  Blessed  are  the  poor  in  spirit :  for  theirs  is  the 
kingdom  of  heaven." 

"  Blessed  are  the  pure  in  heart :  for  they  shall  see 
God." 

"  I  say  unto  thee,  except  a  man  be  born  again  " 
("  from  above,"  in  the  margin),  "  he  cannot  see  the 
kingdom  of  God." 

"  The  wind  bloweth  where  it  listeth,  and  thou 
hearest  the  sound  thereof,  but  canst  not  tell  whence 
it  Cometh,  and  whither  it  goeth  :  so  is  every  one 
that  is  born  of  the  Spirit." 

"  Neither  shall  they  say,  Lo  here !  or,  Lo  there  ! 
for,  behold,  the  kingdom-  of  God  is  within  you." 

"  I  and  my  Father  are  one." 

" as  thou,  Father,  art  in  me,  and  I  in  thee, 

that  they  [the  disciples]    also    may   be  one  in  us ; 

I  in   them,  and  thou  in  me,  that  they  may 

be  made  perfect  in  one." 

"  Give  not  that  which  is  holy  unto  the  dogs, 
neither  cast  ye  your  pearls  before  swine,  lest  they 
trample  them  under  their  feet,  and  turn  again  and 
rend  you." 

"  And  with  many  such  parables  spake  he  the 
word  unto  them,  as  they  were  able  to  hear  it.  But 
without   a   parable  spake  he  not   unto  them    [the 


24 


ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS. 


people] ;  and  when  they  were  alone,  he  expounded 
all  things  to  his  disciples." 

"  The  fear  of  the  Lord  is  the  beginning  of  wis- 
dom." 

"  Happy  is  the  man  that  findeth  wisdom,  and  the 
man  that  getteth  understanding  :  for  the  merchan- 
dise of  it  is  better  than  the  merchandise  of  silver, 
and  the  gain  thereof  than  fine  gold.  She  is  more 
precious  than  rubies :  and  all  the  things  thou  canst 
desire  are  not  to  be  compared  unto  her.  Length 
of  days  is  in  her  right  hand;  and  in  her  left  hand 
riches  and  honor. 

"  Her  ways  are  ways  of  pleasantness  and  all  her 
paths  are  peace.  She  is  a  tree  of  life  to  them  that 
lay  hold  upon  her;  and  happy  is  every  one  that 
retaineth  her. 

"  The  Lord  by  wisdom  hath  founded  the  earth ; 
by  understanding  hath  he  established  the  heavens, 

My  son,  let  them  not  depart  from  thine  eyes  ;:• 

keep  sound  wisdom  and  discretion.     So  shall  they 
be  life  unto  thy  soul  &nd  gi*ace  to  thy  neck." 

"  Get  wisdom,  get  understanding ;  forget  it  not : 
neither  decline  from  the  words  of  my  mouth.  For- 
sake her  not,  and  she  shall  preserve  thee  :  love  her 
and  she  shall  keep  thee." 

"  Keep  thy  heart  with  all  diligence ;  for  out  of  i+ 
are  the  issues  of  life." 


ALCHEMY  AND  THE  ALCHEMISTS.         25 

"  A  wise  man  will  hear  and  will  increase  learn- 
ing ;  and  a  man  of  understanding  shall  attain  unto 
wise  counsels;  to  understand  a  proverb,  and  the 
interpretation,  the  words  of  the  wise,  and  their 
dark  sayings." 

All  of  these  sayings  are  perfectly  congenial  to 
the  Alchemist,  and  exactly  in  harmony  with  his 
object. 

But  an  important  point  must  here  be  explained 
without  reserve,  it  being  necessary  to  a  right  un- 
derstanding of  the  true  position  of  the  Alchemists ; 
especially  in  what  have  been  called  the  Dark  Ages, 
when  there  was  neither  political  nor  religious  tol- 
eration. 

The  Address  to  the  Reader,  in  the  English  copy 
of  Sandivogius,  opens  in  this  strain:  — 

"  There  is  abundance  of  Knowledge,  yet  but  lit- 
tle Truth  known.  The  generality  of  our  knowl- 
edge is  but  as  castles  in  the  air,  or  groundless  fan- 
cies. I  know  but  of  two  ways  that  are  ordained 
for  getting  of  Wisdom,  viz.  the  Book  of  God 
and  the  Book  of  Nature ;  and  these  also,  but  as 
they  are  read  with  reason.  Many  look  upon  the 
nrmer  as  a  thing  below  them  ;  upon  the  latter,  as 
.  ground  of  Atheism,  and  therefore  neglect  both. 
'h  is   my  judgment,  that   as  to  search  the   Scrip- 


26        ALCHEMY  AND  THE  ALCHEMISTS. 

tures  is  most  necessary,  so  without  reason  it  is 
impossible  to  understand  them.  Faith  without 
reason  is  but  implicity.  If  I  cannot  understand 
by  reason  lioio  a  thing  is,  yet  I  will  see  that  a 
thing  is  so,  before  I  will  believe  it  to  be  so.  I  will 
ground  my  believing  of  the  Scripture  upon  Rea- 
son ;  I  will  improve  my  Reason  by  Philosophy. 
How  shall  we  convince  gainsayers  of  the  truth  of 
the  Scriptures,  but  by  principles  of  Reason  ? 

"  When  God  made  Man  after  his  own  Image, 
how  was  that?  Was  it  not  by  making  him  a 
rational  creature  ?  Men  therefore  that  lay  aside 
reason,  in  the  reading  of  sacred  mysteries,  do  but 
un-man  themselves,  and  become  further  involved 
in  a  labyrinth  of  errors.  Hence  it  is  that  their 
Religion  is  degenerated  into  irrational  notions. 

"  Now,  to  say  that  pure  Philosophy  is  true  Di- 
vinity, will  haply  seem  a  paradox  [in  1650] ;  yet 
if  any  one  should  affirm  it,  he  would  not  be  Het- 
erodox. 

"  When  Job  had  been  a  long  time  justifying 
himself  against  God,  —  which  I  conceive  was  by 
reason  of  his  ignorance  of  God  and  himself,  — 
God  undertakes  to  convince  him  of  his  error  by 
the  principles  of  Nature ;  and  this,  to  bring  him 
to  the  knowledge  of  both  ;  as  may  be  seen  at 
large.  Job  xxxviii. 


ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS.  27 

"  Can  any  one  affirm  that  Hermes,  Plato,  Aris- 
totle, (though  pm-e  Naturalists,)  were  not  most 
deep  Divines  ?/  Do  not  all  grant  that  the  two 
first  chapters  of  Genesis  are  true  Divinity?  I  dare 
affirm  that  they  are  the  most  deep  and  the  tru- 
est Philosophy.  Yea,  they  are  the  ground  and 
sum  of  all  Divinity,  and  Philosophy  ;  and  if  right- 
ly understood,  will  teach  thee  more  knowledge  of 
God^  and  of  thyself^  than  all  the  books  in  the  world 
besides."  j 

From  such  passages  as  the  above,  or  those  of  a 
similar  import,  abundantly  found  in  the  works  of 
the  Alchemists,  I  cannot  but  say  that  they  sought 
the  Truth  upon  evidences  drawn  from  the  nature 
of  things,  and  received  it  only  for  itself ;  and  were 
influenced  in  its  reception  by  neither  tradition  nor 
authority. 

With  the  Alchemists  in  Christian  countries,  the 
doctrines  of  Christ  were  received  as  true  in  them- 
selves, or  in  the  nature  of  things,  and  therefore 
were  believed  to  have  been  announced  by  Christ ; 
but  they  w^ere  not  regarded  as  true  simply  upon 
the  ground  that  Christ  announced  them.  With 
them,  the  "  wisdom  of  the  doctrine  established  the 
truth  of  Christianity,  and  not  miracles."  The  Al- 
chemists   would  have  the  lovers   of  their  art   test 


28  ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS. 

all  doctrines  by  what  they  call  "  the  possibility  of 
Nature."  Hence  the  test  of  doctrine  was  not  with 
them  a  written  record;  and,  consistently  with  this 
principle,  no  Alchemist  urges  his  opinions  upon 
authority,  but  always  in  the  style  of  "  INIy  son, 
listen  to  my  words";  but  he  adds.  Prove  them;  or, 
he  might  say,  with  St.  Paul,  —  one  of  the  most 
zealous,  bold,  and  independent  reformers  the  world 
ever  saw,  — "  Prove  all  things,  but  hold  fast  that 
which  is  good." 

Notwithstanding  this  high  authority,  he  who 
accepts  truth  only  because  it  may  be  proved,  or 
proved  to  be  "good,"  and  disregards  mere  author- 
ity, is  commonly  stigmatized  as  an  infidel. 

The  Alchemists,  therefore,  standing  upon  this 
ground,  would  have  been  persecuted  had  they  pub- 
lished their  opinions  openly ;  for  they  lived,  for  the 
most  part,  at  a  period  when  it  was  supposed 
by  those  in  authority,  that  coercion  and  violence 
might  be  legitimately  employed  to  force  men  into 
the  established  public  faith,  the  imagined  enemies 
of  which,  besides  being  held  up  to  public  abhor- 
rence, were  often  burned  at  the  stake.  Allusions 
to  this  state  of  things  frequently  occur  in  the  writ- 
ings of  the  Alchemists,  as  in  Tlie  Open  Way  to  the 
Shut  Palace   of  the   King,  where  the  author  says  : 


ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS.  29 

"  I  dare  affirm  that  I  do  possess  more  riches  than 
the  whole  known  world  is  worth ;  but  cannot 
make  use  thereof,  because  of  the  snares  of  knaves." 
The  true  explanation  of  this  allusion  to  riches  is 
in  Matt.  xvi.  26,  for  Eyrenseus  proceeds :  "  I  dis- 
dain, I  loathe,  I  detest  this  idolizing  of  gold  and 
silver,  by  the  price  whereof  the  pomp  and  vani- 
ties of  the  world  are  celebrated.  Ah,  filthy  evil!  ah, 
vain  nothingness !  Believe  ye  that  I  conceal  these 
things  out  of  envy  ?  No,  surely  ;  for  I  protest  to 
thee  that  I  grieve  from  the  very  bottom  of  my 
soul,  that  we  are  driven  as  it  were  like  outcasts 
from  the  face  of  the  Lord  throughout  the  earth. 
We  travel  through  many  nations,  just  like  vaga- 
bonds, and  dare  not  take  upon  ourselves  the  care 
of  a  family,  neither  do  we  possess  any  fixed  habi- 
tation. And  although  we  possess  all  things,  yet 
can  we  use  but  a  few.  What,  therefore,  are  we 
happy  in,  excepting  speculation  and  meditation 
only,  wherein  we  meet  with  great  satisfaction  of 
mind  ?  Many  do  believe  (that  are  strangers  to 
the  Art)  that,  if  they  should  enjoy  it,  they  would 
do  such  and  such  things  ;  so  also  even  we  did  for- 
merly believe,  but  being  grown  more  wary,  by  the 
hazard  we  have  run,  we  have  chosen  a  rnore  secret 
method.  For  whosoever  hath  once  escaped  immi- 
3* 


30         ALCHEMY  AND  THE  ALCHEMISTS. 

nent  peril  of  his  life,  he  will  (believe  me)  become 
more  wise  for  the  time  to  come."  Yet  he  ex- 
claims:  "My  heart  murmureth  things  unheard  of; 
my  spirit  beats  in  my  breast  for  the  good  of  all 
Israel Would  to  God  that  every  inge- 
nious   man,   in   the   whole    earth,   understood   this 

science ! Then    would  virtue,   naked    as   it 

is,  be  held  in  great  honor,  merely  for  its  own  amia- 
ble nature."  But  he  adds  :  "  Our  gold  is  not  to 
be  bought  for  money,  though  you  should  offer  a 
crown  or  a  kingdom  for  it ;  for  it  is  the  gift  of 
God." 

As  the  intolerance  of  the  Middle  Ages  is  a  fa- 
miliar fact,  known  to  every  one,  I  have  no  dispo- 
sition to  dwell  upon  it;  and  have  referred  to  it 
only  to  assign  it  as  one  cause  of  the  esoteric  writ- 
ing of  the  Alchemists.  They  communicated  with 
each  other  by  symbols,  writing  of  salt,  sulphur, 
mercury,  &c.,  and  of  the  transmutation  of  metals, 
by  which  they  saved  their  own  heads,  though  they 
plunged  hundreds  and  thousands  of  the  "  profane  " 
into  vain  and  useless  efforts  to  find  a  tangible 
agent  for  turning  the  baser  metals  into  gold.  "  Who 
is  to  blame,"  says  one  of  them,  "  the  Art,  or  those 
who  seek  it  upon  false  principles  ? " 

Another  reason  for  their  obscure  mode  of  writing 


ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS.  31 

was  of  a  higher  order,  and  it  was  this  :  that,  as 
most  men  were  educated  in  religious  tenets  accord- 
ing to  tradition,  without  understanding  the  true 
gi'ounds  of  the  doctrines  imposed  upon  them,  it 
was  not  considered  safe  to  shake  the  hold  of  the 
tradition  by  proposing  a  new  rule  of  conduct,  not 
easily  apprehended.  In  plain  words,  it  was  be- 
lieved to  be  better  for  society  that  men  should  be 
held  to  their  duty  by  hope  and  fear,  than  be  ex- 
posed to  injury  by  a  misunderstood  doctrine  of 
freedom;  for  man  is  not  free  by  denying  the  false, 
but  by  living  in  the  truth.  "  The  truth  shall  make 
you  free,"  was  the  doctrine  of  Alchemy,  as  well 
as  of  the  Gospel. 

With  the  Alchemists,  the  ancient  saying,  Know 
Thyself,  inscribed  upon  the  Temple  of  Apollo 
(attributed  by  some  to  Pythagoras,  by  others  to 
the  Egyptians),  as  an  injunction,  was  the  ground 
and  sum  of  all  wisdom.  In  this  knowledge  was 
found,  as  they  believed,  the  knowledge  of  God ; 
not  that  God  is  in  man  except  as  he  is  in  all 
things,  but  the  knowledge  of  God  lies  in  the  nature 
of  man,  and  not  in  the  nature  of  any  other  thing 
in  the  universe.  He  who  looks  for  it  elsewhere, 
is  on  a  journey  away  from  the  object  he  seeks, 
and  shall  be  disappointed.  This  I  regard  as  the 
opinion  of  the  Alchemists. 


32  ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS. 

I  know  of  no  one  among  that  class  of  writers  who 
has  stated  the  ground  of  their  proceedings  more  dis- 
tinctly than  Van  Helmant,  where  he  says :  — 

"  Seeing  that  the  Creator  of  all  beings,  before 
the  foundation  of  the  world,  and  before  ever  they 
were  brought  forth,  had  and  contained  the  same 
in  his  Mind  and  "Wisdom,  —  even  the  little  world 
[man,  the  microcosm]  as  well  as  the  greater,  ac- 
cording to  the  testimony  of  Scripture  [here  he 
quotes  passages  from  Scripture],  —  must  not  then 
the  world,  the  greater  [the  macrocosm]  as  well 
as  the  lesser,  have  their  Creator,  as  their  original 
and  beginning,  within  themselves,  so  that  neither 
the    Creator    nor    his    creature    are    separate    from 

each    other  ? Seeing,  then,   that   it   cannot 

be  said  that  perfection  is  attained,  before  the  end 
hath  reached  its  beginning,  and  the  beginning  unit- 
ed itself  with  the  end,  in  order  to  a  new  birth 
and  production,  the  question  is,  whether  both  the 
greater  and  the  lesser  world,  in  order  to  reach  per- 
fection, must  not,  in  all  their  workings,  aim  at  this, 
viz.  that  they  may  return  to  their  beginning,  to 
be  united  with  it." 

Again  :  "  Seeing,  then,  that  all  the  creatures  of 
God,  in  order  to  their  melioration  and  glorifica- 
tion,   stand    in   an   endless  revolution,  in    order  to 


ALCHEMY  AND  THE  ALCHEMISTS.         33 

perfection,  and  yet  must  be  known  and  compre- 
hended ;  and  seeing  that  a  thing  cannot  be  known 
otherwise  than  by  its  end  and  operation,  or  out- 
working, as  a  tree  by  its  fruits ;  and  that  the  less- 
er world  is  the  end  and  comprisal  of  all  creatures 
and  works  of  God,  and  consequently  an  out-birth 
of  the  great  world,  wherein  all  other  creatures  are 
comprisecj^;  the  question  then  is,  Whether  there  can 
be  any  other  way  by  which  man  may  attain  to  a 
right  knowledge  of  the  great  world,  with  and  in 
all  its  parts,  than  in  and  out  of  himself;  especially 
since  in  him,  as  in  the  end  and  abridgment  of  all 
things,  the  Beginning  hath  manifested  itself;  —  for 
the  End  is  nothing  but  a  Beginning  wrought  out, 
that  is,  displayed  into  act  and  manifested ;  so  that 
the  End  is  hid  in  the  Beginning,  as  the  Beginning 
is  manifested  in  the  End  ?  And  whether,  as  a 
consequence  of  this,  both  the  worlds  have  not  a 
great  affinity,  and  perfect  likeness,  yea,  and  unity 
one  ivith  the  other;  and  whether  they  must  not  be 
wrought  out  with  one  another,  and  thereby  reach 
their  highest  perfection?" 

Alchemical  volumes  are  filled  with  intimations 
of  the  mystery  involved  in  the  nature  of  man  ;  thus 
Weidenfeld  exclaims  :  — 

"  Very   great    and    incomprehensible    gifts    hath 


34         ALCHEMY  AND  THE  ALCHEMISTS. 

the  most  High  God  vouchsafed  us ;  in  the  acknowl- 
edgment of  which  it  is  our  duty  both  day  and  night 
to  love,  worship,  and  revere  him  with  our  whole 
heart,  and  everywhere  extol  his  name  with  all  our 
might;  for  besides  his  creating  us  out  of  nothing, 
and  redeeming  us  with  his  most  precious  blood, 
he  hath  also  made  us  partakers  of  all  the  blessings 
contained  in  the  greater  w^orld ;  for  which  reason 
Man  is  called  Mic7'ocosm ;  for  it  has  by  divine  in- 
spiration been  revealed  to  us  that  the  virtues  of 
all  things,  animal,  vegetable,  and  mineral,  are  in 
Man:' 

The  English  translator  of  a  work  said  to  have 
been  written  in  Arabic,  by  Alipili,  entitled  Centrum 
Naturce  Concentratum^  or  the  Salt  of  Nature  Reg-en- 
erated^  in  his  Address  to  "  the  Reader,"  says  :  — 

"  The  highest  wisdom  consists  in  this,  for  Man 
to  know  Himself,  because  in  him  God  has  placed 
his  eternal  Word,  by  which  all  things  were  made 
and  upheld,  to  be  his  Light  and  Life,  by  which 
he  is  capable  of  knowing  all  things  both  in  time 

and  eternity Therefore  let  the  high  inquirers 

and  searchers  into  the  deep  mysteries  of  nature 
learn  first  to  know  what  they  have  in  themselves, 
before  they  seek  in  foreign  matters  without  them  ; 
and  by  the  divine  power  within  them,  let  them  first 


ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS.  35 

heal  themselves   and  transmute   their  own   souls  : 


then  they  may  go  on  prosperously,  and  seek  with 
good  success  the  mysteries  and  wonders  of  God 
in  all  natural  things." 

This  is  but  a  reflection  from  what  is  found  in 
the  text  of  the  volume  in  these  words :  — 

"  He  that  hath  the  knowledge  of  the  Microcosm^  \ 

I  cannot  long  be  ignorant  of  the  knowledge  of  the 
Macrocosm.  This  is  that  which  the  Egyptian  in- 
dustrious searchers  of  Nature  so  often  said,  and 
loudly  proclaimed,  —  that  every  one  should  Know 
Hlmself.  This  speech  their  dull  disciples  [mean- 
ing the  Greeks]  took  in  a  moral  sense,  and  in 
ignorance  affixed  it  to  their  Temples.  But  I  ad- 
monish thee,  whosoever  thou  art,  that  desirest  to 
dive  into  the  inmost  parts  of  Nature,  if  that 
which  thou  seekest  thou  findest  not  within  thee, 

^  thou  ivilt  never  find  it  loithoiit  thee.  If  thou  know- 
est  not  the  excellency  of  thine  own  house,  why 
dost  thou  seek  and  search  after  the  excellency  of 
other  things  ?  The  universal  Orb  of  the  world 
contains  not  so  great  mysteries  and  excellences 
as  a  little  Man,  formed  by  God  to  his  ovm  Image. 
And  he  who  desires  the  primacy  amongst  the 
Students  of  Nature,  will  nowhere  find  a  greater 
or  better  field  of  study  than    Himself.     Therefore 


36         ALCHEMY  AND  THE  ALCHEMISTS. 

will  I  here  follow  the  example  of  the  Egyptians^ 
and  from  my  whole  heart,  and  certain  true  expe- 
rience proved  by  me,  speak  to  my  neighbor  in  the 
words  of  the  Egyptians,  and  with  a  loud  voice 
do  now  proclaim  :  O  Man,  Know  Thyself  ;  in 
thee  is  hid  the   Treasure  of  Treasuresy 

The  author  then  falls  into  the  conventional  mys- 
tic language  about  the  central  salt,  the  firmament, 
the  astrum,  the  spiritual  w^ater,  the  watery  spirit, 
the  water  of  life,  etc.,  etc.,  which  would  not  be 
pertinent  here,  the  point  now  in  question  requiring 
me  only  to  show  that  Man  is  the  Subject  of  Al- 
chemy.    Other  points  will  arise  in  their  due  place. 

Sandivogius,  one  of  the  most  universally  acknowl- 
edged adepts^  speaks  in  the  following  manner  of 
the  mysteries  involved  in  the  nature  of  Man:  — 

"  The  most  high  Creator  was  willing  to  manifest 
all  natural  things  unto  Man,  wherefore  he  showed 
to  us  that  celestial  things  themselves  were  naturally 
made,  by  which  his  absolute  and  incomprehensible 
Power  and  Wisdom  might  be  so  much  the  more 
freely  acknowledged  ;  all  which  things  the  Philos- 
sophers  [meaning  the  Alchemists],  in  the  Light 
of  Nature,  as  in  a  Looking-glass,  have  a  clear  sight 
of.  For  Avhich  cause  they  esteemed  highly  of  this 
Art  [of  Alchemy],  viz.  not  so  much  out  of  covet- 


ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS.  37 

ousness  for  gold  or  silver,  but  for  knowledge  sake, 
not  only  of  all  natural  things,  but  also  of  the  power 
of  the  Creator ;  but  they  were  willing  to  speak  of 
these  things  only  sparingly  and  figuratively,  lest 
the  Divine  Mysteries  by  which  Nature  is  illustrated 
should  be  discovered  to  the  unworthy ;  which  thou^ 
[reader,]  if  thou  knoivest  Iioiu  to  Know  Thyself, 
and  art  not  of  a  stiff  neck,  mayest  easily  compre- 
hend,   created   as  thou   art   in  the  likeness   of  the 

great  world,  7/ea,  after  the  Image  of  God 

Thou,  therefore,  that  desirest  to  attain  to  this  Art, 
in  the  first  place,  put  thy  whole  trust  in  God  thy 
Creator,  and  urge  him  by  thy  prayers,  and  then 
assuredly  believe  that  he  will  not  forsake  thee ;  for 
if  God  shall  know  that  thy  Heart  is  sincere^  and 
that  thy  whole  trust  is  put  in  him,  he  will,  by  one 
means  or  another,  shew  thee  a  way,  and  assist 
thee  in  it,  and  thou  shalt  obtain  thy  desire.  The 
Fear  of  the  Lord  is  the  beginning  of  wisdom. 
Pray,  but  yet  work :  God  indeed  gives  understand- 
ing, but  thou  must  know  how  and  when  to  use 
it." 

Cornelius  Agrippa,  an  Alchemist,  and,  like  many 
other  great  men,  misunderstood  in  his  day,  writes:  — 

"  There  is  one  thing  by  God  created  [he  does 
not  name  it,  but  he  means  man],  the  subject  of  all 

4 


38  ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS.  . 

wonderfulness  in  earth  and  in  heaven ;  it  is  actually 
animal,  vegetable,  and  mineral ;  found  everywhere, 
known  [properly]  by  few,  by  none  expressed  by 
his  proper  name,  but  hid  in  numbers,  figures,  and 
riddles,  without  which  neither  alchemy,  nor  natu- 
ral magic,  can  attain  their  perfect  end." 

Thomas  Norton,  a  very  old  writer  on  Alchemy 
of  great  authority  (of  the  fifteenth  century),  wrote 
his  "  Ordinall "  in  verse,  and  tells  all  but  the  very 
blind  the  real  subject  of  the  Art  in  these  words  :  — 

"Noble  authors,  men  of  glorious  fame, 
Called  our  Stone  Microcosnms  by  name : 
For  his  composition  is  -withouten  doubt, 
Like  to  this  world  in  which  we  walk  about : 
Of  Heat,  of  Cold,  of  Moist,  and  of  Dry, 
Of  Hard,  of  Soft,  of  Light,  and  of  Heavy, 
Of  Rough,  of  Smooth,  and  of  things  stable, 
Mingled  with  things  fleeting  and  movable ; 
Of  all  kinds  contrary  brought  to  one  accord, 
Knit  by  the  doctrine  of  God  by  our  blessed  Lord. 
"Whereby  of  Metals  is  made  transmutation, 
Not  only  in  color  [appearance]  but  transubstantiation, 
In  which  ye  have  need  to  know  this  thing. 
How  all  the  virtues  of  the  elements  transmuting, 
Upon  the  transmuted  must  have  full  domination, 
Before  that  the  substance  be  in  transmutation; 
And  all  parts  transmuted  must  figured  be. 
In  the  elements  transmuting  impressed  by  degree. 
So  that  the  third  thins;  elemented  of  them  all 


ALCHEMY  AND  THE  ALCHEMISTS.         39 

Of  such  condition  ever  more  be  shall ; 

That  it  truly  have,  it  may  he  none  other, 

But  her  substance  of  that  one,  and  her  virtue  of  that  other." 

A  friend  remarks  at  my  elbow,  that  this  is  "poetry 
under  difficulties,"  which  is  very  true  ;  but  it  is  not 
cited  for  its  beauty,  but  in  testimony  to  a  fact. 

In  as  clear  a  manner,  George  Ripley  declares  the 
subject  of  the  Stone  in  the  following  lines  :  — 

"For  as  of  one  mass  was  made  all  thing, 
Eight  so  must  it  in  our  practice  be, 
All  our  Secrets  of  one  Image  must  spring  : 
In  Philosophers'  books  therefore  who  wishes  may  see, 
Our  Stone  is  called  the  less-world,  one  and  three." 

That  is,  the  Stone  is  Man,  of  one  nature,  —  of 
body,  soul,  and  spirit. 

In  the  Dialogue  of  Arislaus,  published  in  the  Al- 
cliemists's  Enchiridion^  in  1672,  man  is  indicated  as 
the  Stone  in  this  language  :  — 

"  Now  in  this  discourse  will  I  manifest  to  thee 
the  natural  condition  of  the  Stone  of  the  Philoso- 
phers, apparelled  with  a  triple  garment,  even  this 
Stone  of  Riches  and  Charity,  the  Stone  of  Relief 
from  Languishment; — in  which  is  contained  every 
secret ;  being  a  Divine  Mystery  and  Gift  of  God, 
than  which  there  is  nothing  in  this  world  more 
sublime. 

"  Therefore  diligently   observe   what   I  say,  viz. 


40         ALCHEMY  AND  THE  ALCHEMISTS. 

that  'tis  apparelled  with  a   Triple  g-arm ent,  thsit  is 
to  say,  with  a  Bod//,  Soul,  and  Spirit.^^ 

Any  one  having  the  least  acquaintance  with 
these  works  would  recognize  the  subject  of  the 
author  by  this  language,  and  that  it  is  Man. 

In  the  sequel  I  shall  adduce  many  other  evi- 
dences in  confirmation  of  this  point,  to  wit,  that 
all  the  books  of  Alchemy  treat  of  Man;  and  they 
treat  of  no  other  thing  in  the  universe  except 
in  its  relation  to  Man ;  but  never,  when  treat- 
ing of  the  mysteries  of  the  Art,  by  this  proper 
name. 
iMan  is  the  central  object  in  all  alchemical 
books  ;  yet,  not  man  as  he  is  an  individual,  but 
as  he  is  a  Nature,  containing  or  manifesting  the 
great  world,  or  as  he  is  the  Image  of  God. 

Whoever  desires  to  understand  anything  of  Al- 
chemy must  carry  this  idea  along  with  him  in 
reading  works  on  the  subject  ;  and  then,  however 
much  he  may  dissent  from  the  principles  or  pre- 
tensions of  the  Art,  he  may  form  some  compre- 
hension of  the  use  made  by  this  class  of  writers 
of  the  symbolic  words,  salt,  sulphur,  mercury,  sol, 
luna,  etc. ;  and  under  these  or  other  similar  names 
may  be  discovered,  if  any  one  thinks  it  worth 
while,  what   the  writers  thought  of  God,  Nature, 


ALCHEMY  AND  THE  ALCHEMISTS.         41 

and   Man,  or    Man,   Nature,  and   God,  —  one  and 
three,  three  and  one. 

Although  the  writers  represent  Man  by  an  end- 
less variety  of  names,  as  representing  the  true 
Proteus,  they  most  commonly  speak  of  him  as  a 
Metal  or  Minej'al;  hence  one  says:  — 

"  Minerals  have  their  roots  in  the  air,  their  heads 
and  tops  in  the  earth.  Our  Mercury  is  aerial  ; 
look  for  it,  therefore,  in  the  air  and  the  earth." 

In  this  passage.  Minerals  and  our  Mercury  re- 
fer to  the  same  thing,  and  it  is  the  subject  of  Al- 
chemy, the  Stone  ;  and  we  may  remember  that 
Plato  defined  or  described  Man  as  a  growth  hav- 
ing his  root  in  the  air,  his  tops  in  the  earth.  Man 
walks  indeed  upon  the  surface  of  the  earth,  as  if 
nothing  impeded  his  vision  of  heaven  ;  but  he 
walks  nevertheless  at  the  bottom  of  the  atmos- 
phere, and  between  these  two,  his  root  in  the  air, 
he  must  work  out  his  salvation. 

Another  writer  says  :  "  Minerals  made  of  liv- 
ing  mercury  and  liping-  sulphur  [Soul  and  Body], 
are  to  be  chosen  ;  work  with  them  sweetly,  not 
with  haste  and  precipitancy." 

Again  :  "  Those  that  know  the  mercury  and 
sulphur  of  the  Philosophers,  know  that  they  are 
made  of  pure  gold  and  the  finest  luna  and  argent 

4* 


42  ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS. 

vive  [Soul,  Body,  and  Spirit,  considered  essential- 
ly], which  are  daily  seen,  and  looked  upon,  from 
which  our  argent  vive  is  elicited." 

"  The  work,"  says  one,  "  while  yet  crude,  is  called 
our  water  permanent,  our  lead,  our  Saturn,  our 
Jupiter ;  when  better  decocted,  then  it  is  argent, 
then  magnesia,  and  white  sulphur ;  when  it  is  red, 
it  is  called  auripigment,  coral,  gold,  ferment,  or 
stone,  a  lucid  water  of  celestial  color." 

"  Our  Stone,"  says  another,  "  in  the  beginning 
is  called  water  ;  when  the  Body  is  dissolved,  air 
or  wind  ;  when  it  tends  to  consolidation,  then  it 
is  named  earth ;  and  when  it  is  perfect  and  fixed, 
it  is  called  ^zre." 

Again :  "  Although  the  wise  men  have  varied 
their  names  and  perplexed  their  sayings,  yet  they 
would  always  have  us  think  but  of  one  only  thing, 
one  disposition,  one  way.  The  wise  men  know 
this  one  thing;  and  that  it  is  one  they  have  often 
proved." 

This  one  thing  is,  first,  Man,  as  a  Nature;  one, 
essentially  or  substantially; — but  when  the  writers 
refer  to  man  phenomenally,  they  speak  of  him 
under  different  names  indicating  different  states, 
as  he  is  before  or  after  "  purification " ;  or  they 
refer   to    his    Body,  his   Soul,    or   his    Spirit  under 


ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS.  43 

different  names.  Sometimes  they  speak  of  the 
whole  man  as  mercury,  or  by  some  other  name, 
and  then  by  the  same  word  perhaps  they  speak  of 
something  special  as  "  our  mercmy,"  which  has 
besides  a  multitude  of  other  names. 

By  our  mercury,  our  sulphur,  etc.,  they  mean  the 
philosopher's  mercury,  and  not  the  common  min- 
eral. 

I  am  not  defending  this  mode  of  writing,  but  I 
affirm  that  the  whole  subject  of  Alchemy  is  Man. 
But  each  writer,  for  the  most  part,  designates  him 
by  a  word  of  his  own  choosing;  hence  one  writes 
of  Antimony^  another  of  Lead^  another  of  Zinc^  an- 
other of  Arsenic,  etc.,  etc.  Men  are  designated 
most  frequently  by  the  metals,  but  these  are  often 
called  by  astronomical  names,  as  Jupiter,  Saturn, 
Mars,  etc.,  the  best  men,  by  nature,  being  likened 
to  gold,  and  inferior  men  to  the  inferior  met- 
als. 

Although  men  are  of  diverse  dispositions  and 
tempers,  some  being  angelic  and  others  satanic, 
yet  the  Alchemists  insist  with  St.  Paul  that  "all 
the  nations  of  men  are  of  one  blood " ;  that  is,  of 
one  nature,  and  that  in  man  by  which  he  is  one 
nature  it  is  the  special  object  of  Alchemy  to  bring 
into  life  and  action,  by  means  of  which,  if  it  could 


44  ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS. 

universally  prevail,  mankind  would  be  constituted 
into  a  brotherhood. 

This  is  properly  the  "  mercury  of  the  Philoso- 
phers," and  this  is  what  is  referred  to  when  M. 
Figuier,  quoting  the  Alchemists,  says:  "  ia  seule 
difficuUe,  dans  la  preparation  de  la  pierre  philoso- 
pliale^  consiste  done  a  ohtenir  le  mercure  des  philo- 
sophesP  He  goes  on  to  say,  speaking  of  the 
theory,  yet  supposing  an  agent  for  transmuting 
metals  is  the  object,  that,  this  mercury  once  found, 
the  work  is  easy,  —  a  work  for  "women  and  chil- 
dren." He  adds,  still  quoting  the  Alchemists,  that 
this  work  is  no  slight  undertaking ;  that  all  the 
Alchemists  acknowlege  it  to  be  a  work  above  hu- 
man power,  and  that  it  can  be  obtained  only  by 
the  grace  of  God,  or  by  the  friendship  of  an  adept 
to  whom  it  has  been  revealed.  He  says  it  is  called 
animated  mercurij^  double  mercury^  mercury  tiuice 
born,  the  green  lion,  the  serpent,  sharp  ivater,  vine- 
gar, virgin^ s  milk,  etc. ;  but  he  adds,  speaking  now 
for  himself,  that  none  of  the  Alchemists  have  ever 
discovered  it. 

With  due  deference  to  M.  Figuier,  I  expect  to 
show  that  this  mercury  is  no  other  than  a  perfectly 
pure  conscience,  or  a  conscience  purified  under  a 
sense  of  the  presence  of  God  ;  and  the  "  difficulty  " 


ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS.  45 

of  discovering  it  is  the  difficulty  of  exciting  or  rous- 
ing it  in  the  breast  of  man,  in  order  to  his  im- 
provement. 

I  would  put  it  to  any  experienced  man,  or  espe- 
cially teacher  of  youth  or  guide  of  those  more  ad- 
vanced in  life,  whether  the  whole  difficulty,  and 
therefore  the  whole  Art  in  improving  man,  is  not 
in  establishing  in  his  bosom  a  permanent,  endur- 
ing sense  of  absolute  right,  and  an  undeviating 
purpose  of  being  governed  by  it.  It  is  one  of  the 
most  difficult  things  in  the  world  to  take  a  man 
in  what  is  called  his  natural  state,  St.  Paul's  natu- 
ral man,  after  he  has  been  for  years  in  the  indul- 
gence of  all  of  his  passions,  having  a  view  to  the 
world,  to  honors,  pleasures,  wealth,  and  make  him 
sensible  of  the  mere  abstract  claims  of  right,  and 
willing  to  relinquish  one  single  passion  in  deference 
to  it.  Most  assuredly  this  is  the  one  grand  task 
of  teachers  ;  but  this  once  accomplished,  the  work 
of  improvement  is  easy  and  may  very  properly  be 
said  to  be  "  children's  play." 

Consider  a  man  ever  seeking  only  what  may  grat- 
ify some  selfish  passion,  a  stranger  to  all  generous 
impulses,  unconscious  perhaps  of  their  existence, 
or  only  regarding  their  manifestation  in  others  as 
evidence  of  imbecility  and  weakness ;  how  is  such 


46  ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS. 

a  man  to  be  brought  out  of  this  state  into  a  better 
view  of  things,  so  as  to  feel  his  dependence  upon 
others,  and  appreciate  their  claims  upon  him  ? 

Take  a  man  whose  soul  is  corrupted  by  all  sorts 
of  bad  passions,  until  he  has  become  morbidly  sen- 
sitive in  everything  that  in  any  manner  interferes 
with  his  personal  comfort  ;  let  him  be  petulant, 
irritable,  and  morose;  —  how  is  such  a  man  to 
be  improved? 

I  might  speak  of  downright  sins,  which  generate 
a  class  of  men,  a  few  of  whom  find  their  temporal 
homes  in  prisons  and  penitentiaries,  or  expiate  their 
crimes  upon  the  gallows  ;  how  are  such  men  to  be 
stopped  in  their  career,  and  brought  to  a  sense  of 
duty? 

Undoubtedly  the  great  "  difficulty"  in  all  these 
cases  is  to  bring  into  action  the  philosophical  mer- 
cury;  that  is,  to  awaken  the  conscience,  which  lies 
buried  in  them ;  but  though  buried  and  inactive, 
"  it  is  not  dead,  but  sleepeth." 

Take  another  class  more  numerous  than  any  oth- 
er, —  those  who  are  distracted  between  contrary 
passions,  such  as  a  love  of  pleasure  and  a  love  of 
money,  or  a  love  of  glory  and  a  love  of  ease. 
What  peace  can  such  people  have,  or  how  is  it 
possible  for  them  to  enjoy  tranquillity  ?     They  need 


ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS.  47 

a  complete  revolution  of  character  or  disposition. 
So  with  those  who,  under  a  vague  notion  of  being 
in  the  right,  having  no  more  solid  foundation  for 
it  than  self-conceit,  —  who  think  the  whole  world 
wrong  but  themselves,  and  are  uneasy  and  unhap- 
py with  everything  around  them  which  does  not 
happen  to  be  adjusted  to  their  particular  wishes 
and  predilections.  Such  people  often  look  with 
an  evil  eye  upon  Providence,  which,  somehow,  pro- 
ceeds to  its  general  ends  in  total  disregard  of  all 
incongruous  individualities.  How  are  such  people 
to  be  dealt  with?  To  tell  them  plainly  that  they 
are  in  error,  is  only  to  arouse  their  enmity  and  ex- 
cite opposition ;  but  create  in  them  the  philosophi- 
cal mercury,  —  set  their  conscience  on  fire,  —  and 
the  remedy  is  at  hand ;  but  to  do  this  is  the  great 
"  difficulty."  Who  doubts  this  but  those  who  are 
in  need  of  this  same  mercury  ? 

There  are  no  people  in  the  world  so  suspicious 
and  sensitive  as  those  who  are  in  error.  They  are 
like  porcupines;  you  cannot  approach  them  with- 
out danger,  and  truly  do  the  Alchemists  refer  to 
these  various  kinds  of  people  under  such  names 
as  arsenic,  vitriol,  vipers,  etc.,  and  yet  in  all  these 
substances,  as  well  as  in  Antimony,  Lead,  and  a 
thousand  other  things,  they  seek  for  a  certain  mer- 


48         ALCHEMY  AND  THE  ALCHEMISTS.  ; 

cury,  which  itself  has  as  many  names  as  the  sub-  ■ 

stances  in  which  it  is  found  ;  as,  oil,  vinegar,  honey,  : 

wormwood,  etc. ;  and  yet  this  same  mercury  is  con-  ; 

sidered  as  one  only  unalterable  thing.     It  is  called  ' 

an   incombustible   sulphur,  because  in  whomsoever  ! 

the  conscience  is  properly  awakened,  a  fire  is  raised  ; 

which  burns  and  consumes  everything  opposed  to  ! 
its  own  nature. 

If  any  one  doubts  this,  let  him  study  the  nature 

of  the  conscience,  and  see  how  uncompromising  it  j 

is;  that  it  can  neither  be  bribed  nor  hoodwinked;  i 

that   it   is   ubiquitous,  and   is    everywhere   present  j 

with  its  subject.     Of  the  conscience  it  may  be  truly  \ 

said.  Whither  can  a  man  go  to  escape  from  it,  or  ; 

how  can  a  man  flee  from  its  presence  ?  if  he  ascend  j 

up  into  heaven,  it  is  there;  and  if  he  makes  his  ' 
bed  in  hell,  it  is  there  also.     If  once  roused,  it  can 

in  no  manner  be  quieted  and  put  to  rest  but  by  an  ■ 

unreserved  and  unqualified  submission  ;    but  then,  ^ 

though  it  had  pursued  its  victim  as  an  avenging  i 

fire,  the  moment  it  attains  its  legitimate  suprem-  j 

acy  it  unfolds  its  healing  virtues  and  becomes  an  ' 

assuaging  balm,  a  sovereign  medicine^  —  the  medi-  ; 

cine  of  the  Alchemists,  —  the  only  true  ^sculapius  1 
of  a  "  wounded  spirit." 

A  study  of  the  conscience  may  furnish  us  some-  - 


ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS.  49 

thing  of  a  key  to  the  ancient  Stoic  doctrine,  that 
Pain  is  not  an  Evil;  for  it  is  not  said  that  pain  is 
not  pain  by  saying  that  it  is  not  evil.  The  only 
jevil  in  the  world  is  a  self-condemnation,  or  a  con- 
demnation of  one's  own  conscience.  Pain,  as 
such,  does  not  suppose  this,  and  is  in  its  own  na- 
ture transient.  It  may  be  mitigated  or  removed 
by  the  skill  of  a  physician ;  or,  if  it  terminates 
in  the  death  of  the  body,  this  is  a  simple,  natural 
event,  and  has  no  necessary  connection  with  the 
conscience,  and  is  therefore  liot  an  evil  under  the 
definition  assumed.  Then,  with  regard  to  the  evil 
of  a  self-condemnation,  this  is  so  far  from  being 
absolutely  evil,  that  it  is  universally  adjudged  to 
be  a  sign  of  some  true  life  in  the  moral  system, 
which  needs  only  due  management  to  revive  and 
fortify  the  subject  of  it. 

From  this  view,  the  worst  evil,  that  is,  the  worst 
condition  in  life,  is  one  in  which  the  conduct  is 
irregular,  under  a  sleeping  conscience,  the  patient 
suffering  nothing  for  the  time  being,  though  his 
course  of  life  may  be  daily  ''  heaping  up  wrath 
against  the  day  of  wrath." 

As  a  protection  against  this  condition,  nature 
seems  to  have  provided  a  tendency  to  fear  imagi- 
nary  and    even    impossible    evils,   having   various 


50  ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS. 

names,  which,  it  is  said,  "  ought  not  to  be  men- 
tioned to  polite  ears." 

It  will  be  remembered  that  a  healthy  action  of 
the  conscience  always  precedes  the  contemplated 
deed,  and  this  it  is  which  establishes  the  specific 
difference  between  regret  and  remorse,  and  con- 
stitutes the  true  evil  of  the  deed ;  and  it  is  inde- 
pendent of  both  its  pains  and  its  pleasures,  which, 
in  respect  to  the  conscience,  are  merely  contingent, 
accidental,  and  temporal. 

The  conscience  is  a  study  by  itself.  The  Al- 
chemists often  speak  of  it  as  in  a  "  crude  "  state, 
as  common  mercury  (not  that  which  they  call  our 
mercury),  when  in  many  men  it  is  hardly  recogniza- 
ble, and  its  possessor  is  scarcely  conscious  that  he 
has  such  a  companion,  which  nevertheless  is  the 
witness  of  all  that  is  done.  In  this  state  its  pos- 
sessor is  in  danger  of  temporarily  mistaking  for  it 
some  transient  passion,  as  a  love  of  money,  or  of 
reputation  ;  as  where  a  question  of  right  is  settled 
by  the  influence  of  personal  wishes  or  the  love  of 
applause. 

But  this  is  not  the  true  philosophical  mercury, 
which  is  the  sense  of  right  acting  under  the  con- 
sciousness of  the  presence  of  God,  when  all  deceits 
and  equivocations  become  of  no  avail,  and  the  soul 


ALCHEMY  AND  THE  ALCHEMISTS.         51 

is  compelled  to  sit  in  judgment  upon  itself.  This 
is  the  commencement  of  that  internal  reformation 
of  character  which  will  endure,  and  flame  up  all 
the  brighter,  under  trials.  To  bring  about  this  ref- 
ormation according  to  7iatiire^  and  not  by  violence, 
is  one  great  object  of  the  Alchemists. 

Yet  this  is  but  an  entrance  upon  what  is  called 
the  "  great  work,"  the  End  of  which  it  is  not  my 
purpose  to  speak  of  at  length.  I  say  that  this  is 
the  way  to  the  philosopher's  stone ;  but  the  End 
"  is  not  yet." 

What  one  principle  is  it,  more  than  any  other, 
that  confines  the  extravagances  and  wanderings 
of  the  Race  within  definite  limits,  so  that  each 
age  in  history  recognizes  itself  in  every  other  ?  It 
is  not  reason,  however  strongly  this  is  claimed  as 
the  distinguishing  endowment  of  man,  but  it  is 
the  sense  of  right,  that  is,  conscience.  This  makes 
itself  felt  all  the  more  by  the  wrongs  of  all  sorts 
which  mark  the  pages  of  history.  It  is  this  prin- 
ciple, the  principle  or  sense  of  right,  well  or  ill 
understood,  which  lies  at  the  foundation  of  all 
international  law,  and  theoretically  determines  all 
national  controversies.  All  questions  between  in- 
dependent nations  are  theoretically  decided  by  the 
same   principle  that  disposes  of  controversies   be- 


52         ALCHEMY  AND  THE  ALCHEMISTS. 

tween  any  two  of  the  humblest  individuals.  In 
national  quarrels  vast  results,  of  course,  depend 
upon  mere  power  ;  but  the  moral  sense  of  the 
world  is  not  thereby  overcome,  and  in  all  cases 
the  impartial  historian,  in  his  own  sense  of  right, 
appeals  to  this  same  sense  in  the  race,  and  fixes 
the  moral  judgment  of  mankind  upon  all  national 
acts. 

All  laws,  also,  in  civilized  states,  are  theoretically 
based  upon  the  sense  of  the  just^  and  aim  at  the 
security  of  right  Juries  are  impanelled  to  do  jus- 
tice ;  that  is,  to  discover  and  enforce  right.  In 
short,  throughout  society,  in  every  phase  and  de- 
partment of  it,  whether  on  a  large  or  a  small  scale, 
whatever  is  ivrong  instantly  arouses  the  sense  of 
rights  with  a  disposition  to  establish  it.  Efforts 
are  then  made  in  some  shape  or  other  to  rectify 
the  wrong,  and  reason  is  but  an  humble  aid  em- 
ployed to  find  out  and  apply  the  remedy.  How 
far  the  right  end  is  attained  in  the  disposition  to 
attain  it,  may  be  a  question  worthy  of  a  Socrates 
to  discuss. 

This  sense  of  right  is  what  the  Alchemists  call 
an  immaterial,  incorruptible,  and  inextinguishable 
Fire,  which,  Pontanus  says,  "  is  a  matter  mineral, 
equal,  continuous,  vapors  or  fumes  not,  unless  too 


ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS.  53 

much  provoked  ;  partakes  of  sulphur  [as  the  jar- 
gon runs,  meaning  a  celestial  spirit],  and  is  taken 
otherwise  than  from  matter ;  it  destroys  all  things, 
dissolves,  congeals,  coagulates,  and  calcines,  —  is 
adapted  to  penetrate,  —  and  is  a  compendium  with- 
out any  great  cost."  It  transmutes^  but  "  is  not 
itself  transmuted  with  the  matter,  because  it  is 
nothing  of  the  matter." 

Now,  when  the  conscience^  wherein  the  sense  of 
right  and  justice  has  existence,  becomes  active 
under  the  idea  of  God,  it  is  endowed  with  super- 
natural force,  and  is  then,  as  I  understand  it,  the 
Alchemist's  philosophical  mercury  :  it  is  also  his 
salt  of  mercury :  it  is  no  less  his  sovereign  Treacle, 
of  which  much  may  be  read  in  their  books,  though 
of  a  kind  quite  unlike  that  of  a  justly  celebrated 
novelist  of  the  day.  This  is  also  the  Salt  of  Tar- 
tar, of  which  we  read  in  alchemical  works  :  it  is 
also  the  Spirit  of  Wine,  "  driven  to  the  centre  by 
cold,"  but  not  thereby  destroyed  ;  on  the  contrary, 
it  is  only  made  more  piercing  and  active,  though 
the  removal  of  the  envelope  may  need  an  external 
fire ;  for  we  read  in  these  books  of  one,  two,  three, 
and  four  fires.  This  is  also  the  Viperine  Salt  de- 
scribed with  wonderful  properties,  and  said  to  have 
an   oil  of  marvellous   qualities ;  —  as  we  may  read 


54  ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS. 

in  a  work  with  the  following  curious  hermetic  title  : 
"  Ntiv  Experiments  upon  Vipers ;  containing  also 
an  exact  description  of  all  the  parts  of  a  Viper,  the 
seat  of  his  poison,  and  the  several  effects  thereof;  to- 
gether ivith  the  exquisite  remedies  that  by  the  skilful 
may  be  drawn  from  Vipers  for  the  cure  of  their 
bitings  as  ivell  as  for  other  maladies,^^ 

This  work  (of  man)  was  originally  written  in 
French,  but  was  published  in  English  in  1670. 
■  "  The  Volatile  Salt  of  Vipers,"  says  this  writer, 
"  is  to  be  considered  as  a  Sun,  as  well  among  the 
parts  that  rise  by  distillation,  as  among  those  that 
rest  in  the  retort ;  there  being  none  among  those 
that  are  come  over,  but  have  borrowed  from  it  all 
the  virtue  it  can  have  ;  nor  any  of  those  that  re- 
main, but  have  need  of  it,  or  are  useless  without 
it."  These  writers  often  speak  of  man  as  a  retort, 
an  alembic,  a  cucurbit,  in  which  fermentation  takes 
place  and  thoughts  are  distilled.  He  is  sometimes 
called  a  furnace,  a  name  also  applied  to  great 
nature  itself,  the  great  furnace.  "  The  phlegm,"  the 
author  continues,  "  that  rises  first,  carries  always 
some  part  with  it,  without  which  it  would  produce 
no  effect.  That  which  is  called  Spirit  is  nothing 
else,  to  speak  aright,  but  a  volatile  salt,  which  in 
the  distillation  hath  been  followed  by  a  little  phleg?n 


ALCHEMY  AND  THE  ALCHEMISTS.         55 

dissolving  it  and  giving  it  the  form  of  a  spirit ; 
which  may  be  shown  by  the  rectificalion,  wherein 
that  saline  volatile  part  is  separated,  raised,  and 
coagulated  into  a  2chile  and  crystalline  form,  and 
leaveth  at  the  bottom  of  the  cucm*bit  the  moisture 
that  had  changed  its  nature,  and  is  nothing  else 
but  phlegm.  We  say  on  this  occasion  the  same 
thing  of  what  many  authors  improperly  call  the 
volatile  spirit  of  the  human  skull  [?],  of  harts- 
horn, and  of  other  parts  of  animals,  they  being 
nothing  else  but  volatile  salts  mixed  with  phlegm, 
which  they  afterwards  quit,  ivlien  they  are  rectified. 

The  terrestrial  part  hath   nothing  in  it  that 

deserves  to  be  considered,  and  it  may  justly  be 
called  Terra  mortua^  dead  earth,  after  it  is  freed 
from  its  fixed  salt.  [Some  of  the  writers  called 
it  Terra  damnata.]  So  that  all  the  parts  that  rise 
by  distillation,  as  well  as  those  that  cannot  rise, 
are  of  small  force  or  altogether  useless,  without 
the  volatile  salt.  It  is  therefore  upon  good  rea- 
son that  we  attribute  to  it  th^  principal  virtues 
which  a  Viper  [  ?  ]  can  furnish." 

To  point  out  the  medicinal  action  of  this  salt, 
this  writer  says  :  "  The  similitude  of  substance 
which  the  Volatile  Salt  of  Viper  hath  wdth  the 
spiritous  part  of  our  body,  conjoined  to  its  subtle 


56  ALCHEMY  AND  THE  ALCHEMISTS. 

and  piercing  quality,  is  the  reason,  that,  accommo- 
dating itself  to  their  condition,  and  finding  all 
liberty  for  its  action  [by  the  removal  of  "  super- 
fluities "  to  be  hereafter  explained],  it  produceth 
all  the  effects  it  is  capable  of,  [that  is,  under  given 
conditions  it  does  all  it  can,]  and  penetrates  with- 
out any  opposition  into  the  most  secret  and  the 
most  remote  parts  of  the  body.  It  hath  this  pe- 
culiar property,  that  though  it  acts  as  a  sovereign, 
and  finds  nothing  of  resistance  to  its  dominion, 
yet  it  exerts  it  not  as  a  conqueror,  nor  as  a  de- 
stroyer, but  rather  as  a  Restorer  of  the  places  and 
parts  where  it  passeth  ;  and  although  all  its  courses 
are  extraordinarily  quick  and  precipitate,  yet  they 
are  so  well  measured  and  so  well  directed  that 
no  part  of  the  body  misseth  them,  and  that  none 
of  its  steps  is  unuseful,  but  rather  very  beneficial 
to  all  the  places  where  it  passeth." 

'•  To  judge  well  of  the  effects  which  this  Vola- 
tile Salt  [of  Vipers  ?]  can  produce  in  our  bodies, 
we  must  know  ill  manner  of  operation,  which  is 
to  open,  to  comminute,  to  attenuate,  to  pierce, 
and  to  drive  to  the  extreme  parts  of  the  body, 
and  through  the  pores  of  the  skin,  —  [I  must  in- 
terpose the  remark,  that  this  is  all  said  in  a  moral, 
and   not    a    physical    sense,]  —  all    the   impurities 


ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS.  57 

and  all  the  strange  [heterogene]  bodies,  that  can 
get  out  by  those  ways.  Further,  it  is  an  enemy 
to  all  corruption,  very  friendly  and  very  agreeable 
to  our  nature,  which  it  assists  and  fortifies,  enabling 
it  to  expel,  not  only  by  the  pores  of  the  skin,  but 
by  siege,  and  by  all  the  emunctories  of  the  body, 
the  superfluous  humors  which  molest  it ;  whence 
it  comes  to  pass,  that  it  produces  admirable  effects 
upon  a  thousand  occasions,  curing  a  great  num- 
ber of  sicknesses,  or  at  least  giving  great  relief 
therein,  even  in  those  that  are  most  refractory  and 
most  difficult  to  cure  ;  such  as  apoplexies,  lethar- 
gies, convulsions,  agues,  and  many  other  maladies, 
believed  to  have  their  source  in  the  brains 

If  this  writer  had  said  that  a  purified  conscience 
regulates  many  wanderings  of  the  intellect,  he 
would  openly  have  said  what  he  really  meant, 
and  what  no  one  denies. 

But  I  have  yet  many  things  to  say,  even  at  the 
hazard  of  being  tedious,  before  I  enter  upon  the 
proofs  that  Man  is  the  central  figure  in  Alchemy 
and  Hermetic  Philosophy,  and  that  the  co^nscience 
is  the  starting-point  in  pursuit  of  the  Philosopher's 
Stone. 

A  consideration  of  perhaps  more  importance  than 
all  others  is,  that  the  conscience  cannot  be  said  in 


58  ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS. 

itself  to  err ;  in  other  words,  the  conscience  cannot 
sin.  It  sits  in  judgment  upon  every  man,  approv- 
ing the  good  and  condemning  the  bad,  but  in  itself 
it  is  incorruptible.  The  expression,  a  bad  con- 
science, as  when  we  say  a  man  is  troubled  with 
a  bad  conscience,  is  not  properly  said  of  the  con- 
science, but  of  the  man  whom  a  good  conscience 
condemns. 

I  have  no  disposition  to  enter  upon  a  metaphys- 
ical discussion,  but,  in  order  to  explain  the  view 
I  take  of  Alchemy,  it  is  necessary  for  me  to  make 
apparent,  if  possible,  that,  in  cases  where  many 
suppose  that  the  conscience  is  in  error,  the  error 
is  not  in  the  conscience,  but  in  the  judgment  em- 
ployed in  applying  means  for  the  accomplishment 
of  ends.  In  this  way  the  most  atrocious  and  abom- 
inable things  have  been  done  with  the  purest  con- 
science, that  is,  the  best  intentions  in  the  world. 
This  admission  may  at  first  be  thought  equivalent 
to  a  complete  surrender  of  the  principle  just  as- 
sumed ;  but  it  is  not  so. 

The  conscience  has  reference  to  ends,  and  not  to 
means,  except  where  these  are  considered  in  them- 
selves, and  regarded  as  ends.  Whether  the  sacri- 
fice of  Charles  the  First  was  well  or  ill  done,  is 
not  a  question  for  the  conscience,  but  for  the  judg- 


ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS.  59 

ment,  which  is  employed  in  determining  whether 
that  sacrifice  was  necessary  to  produce  a  certain 
end^  the  end  only  being  the  object  of  the  conscience. 
A  patriot  loves  his  country,  and  endeavors  to  serve 
it,  and  this  is  universally  esteemed  a  virtue  ;  but 
in  seeking  the  good  of  his  country,  he  may  mistake 
the  means  and  plunge  his  country  into  irreparable 
evils.  In  this,  and  in  every  supposable  case,  the 
conscience  decides  upon  the  end,  or,  more  clearly 
what  I  mean,  the  man  is  approved  or  condemned 
according  to  the  end  he  aims  at ;  and  this  is  what 
all  men  have  in  view  in  passing  moral  judgments 
upon  each  other.  We  always  seek  to  know  the 
end  a  man  aims  at,  in  order  to  determine  whether 
he  is  to  be  accepted  or  rejected  in  the  court  of 
conscience,  and  if  the  end  is  approved,  a  mistake 
in  the  means,  however  lamented,  commands  pity 
and  not  condemnation. 

Now  the  end  -  proposed  in  every  case  is  a  per- 
sonal matter,  about  which  no  man,  in  his  own  case, 
can  be  mistaken  ;  —  if  it  is  approved,  the  man  is 
in  a  right  condition  for  seeking  means  for  effect- 
ing his  end  ;  but  if  the  end  be  disapproved  in  the 
conscience,  and  the  man  still  endeavors  to  attain 
it,  it  is  manifest  that  the  conscience  is  not  in  fault. 
This,  by   supposition,  has   executed  its   office  and 


60         ALCHEMY  AND  THE  ALCHEMISTS. 

condemned  the  end,  which,  nevertheless,  from  other 
influences,  the  man  is  impelled  to  seek.  A  disrup- 
tion now  takes  place.  The  unity  is  broken.  The 
man  has  eaten  of  the  forbidden  fruit,  and  becomes 
an  exile  from  Paradise.  He  is  now  a  wanderer, 
and  the  question  is,  How  is  he  to  be  recovered  and 
brought  back  into  the  garden  ?  The  Alchemists, 
as  I  understand  them,  point  with  one  voice  to  the 
conscience,  as  an  uncorrupted  and  incorruptible  vir- 
gin, which,  though  obscured  by  error,  is  the  only 
instrument  by  which  the  wanderer  can  be  recovered, 
with  a  preservation  of  what  they  call  the  "  pon- 
dus,"  that  is,  the  substantial  reality  of  the  indi- 
vidual. 

The  great  "  difficulty  "  is  to  bring  the  conscience 
into  healthy  action  without  embasing  the  sub- 
ject, which  the  Alchemists  say  is  always  done 
when  violence  is  used,  all  external  influences  and 
appliances,  fears,  etc.,  being  called  "  corrosives." 
This  is  the  doctrine  of  Alchemy;  but  it  is  won- 
derfully covered  over  and  buried  in  figures  and 
fables,  for  reasons  which  perhaps  have  less  weight 
in  this  age  than  formerly. 

In  order  still  further  to  show  the  extent  of  the 
dominion  of  the  conscience,  I  must  refer  to  what 
men  call  honor,  and  observe  that  there  is  no  prin- 


ALCHEMY  AND  THE  ALCHEMISTS.         61 

ciple  of  honor  in  man  except  this  one  of  the  con- 
science. I,  of  course,  mean  true  honor,  and  not  a 
blind  deference  to  a  conventional  code  determined 
upon  some  arbitrarily  conceived  notions  of  narrow- 
minded,  ignorant,  arrogant,  and  domineering  men, 
having  only  a  local  existence  and  influence.  In 
a  strict  sense,  nothing  is  honorable  but  what  is 
right,  and  it  ought  to  be  very  plain  that  nothing 
ivrong-  can  be  honorable.  The  principle  that  de- 
termines what  is  right,  determines  also  what  is 
truly  honorable;  and  therefore,  whether  we  say  it 
is  right  to  live  honorably,  or  honorable  to  live 
rightly,  we  say  the  same  thing. 

Most  codes  of  honor,  as  they  are  called,  are 
sustained  by  a  love  of  reputation,  by  which  men 
submit  their  conduct  to  the  rule  of  some  external 
law;  but  even  here,  the  subjects  of  this  law  either 
approve  the  law,  which  may  happen,  or  they  per- 
suade themselves  that  it  is  right  to  conform  to  the 
law .  prescribed  by  a  given  society  in  which  they 
live  ;  or,  if  not,  they  cannot  feel  satisfied  with 
themselves  while  living  in  compliance  with  it. 

I  will  add  here,  that  the  conscience  is  also  the 
only  principle  of  virtue ;  for  virtue  does  not  lie  in 
a  jiidgment  of  what  may  contribute  to  one's  well- 
being  in  a   prudential   sense,  except  where  virtue 

6 


62  ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS. 

itself  is  recognized  also  as  the  highest  prudence. 
Prudence  may  be  a  virtue,  but  virtue  is  not  de- 
fined by  prudence ;  somewhat  as  we  may  say  that 
blue  is  a  color,  but  color  cannot  be  defined  by  say- 
ing it  is  blue. 

I  will  even  go  further,  and  say  that  most,  if  not 
all,  questions  of  religion  are  determined  ultimately 
by  an  appeal  to  the  same  principle,  the  conscience. 
It  is  thus  that  men  reason  about  the  duty  of  at- 
tendance upon  divine  service,  and  of  living  in 
conformity  with  most  of  the  customs  of  religious 
people. 

The  highest  of  all  religious  duties  is  that  of 
obedience  to  God;  and  yet  this,  by  the  phrase- 
ology used  to  express  it,  has  its  sanction  in  the 
conscience.  It  is  said  to  be  right  for  the  creature 
to  obey  the  Creator.  An  obedience  rendered  upon 
any  other  ground  would  not  be  free,  and  when 
produced  by  either  hope  of  reward  or  fear  of  pun- 
ishment is  destitute  of  virtue.  A  sense  of  duty 
made  cheerful  by  love,  is  the  true  ground  of  that 
perfect  obedience  to  God,  w^hich  it  is  the  object 
of  all  pure  religion  to  secure. 

There  is  nothing  so  offensive  in  the  Koran  as 
the  continual  denunciation  of  "  hell-fire "  against 
unbelievers,  simply  because,  in  the  nature  of  the 


ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS.  63 

case,  fear  never  yet  made  or  can  make  an  honest 
man. 

To  determine  what  particular  conduct  is  accept- 
able to  God  may  be  the  office  of  other  principles, 
in  which  men  may  differ  very  widely.  But  this 
is  a  difference  of  judgment  applied  to  matters  of 
fact,  in  settling  questions  of  history,  etc.  ;  but 
whenever  it  can  be  decided  that  any  particular 
conduct  in  man  is  pleasing  to  God,  the  duty  of 
compliance  is  already  prescribed  in  the  conscience. 

In  addition  to  all  I  have  said,  there  is  one  mode 
of  stating  the  question  which  would  seem  to  ex- 
clude all  controversy ;  for  let  it  be  supposed  that 
some  other  law  besides  that  of  the  conscience  is 
of  greater  authority,  how  can  it  be  authenticated 
but  by  the  conscience  itself,  which  must  ultimate- 
ly be  appealed  to  for  a  sanction  of  the  law  ?  for 
to  say  that  a  man  ought  to  be  governed  by  any 
law  whatever,  is  to  use  the  language  of  the  con- 
science. If  any  rule  can  therefore  be  proposed 
before  the  conscience  which  of  right  demands 
obedience,  it  would  then  be  tvrong  to  obey  the 
law  of  conscience  ;  but  to  do  right  is  the  very 
essence  of  the  law  of  conscience  ;  so  that,  in  pre- 
ferring another  law,  a  man  is  reduced  to  the  ab- 
surdity of  affirming  that  it  is  wrong  to  do  right. 


64  ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS. 

There  is  no  place  where  the  power  of  the  con- 
science is  so  fully  manifested  as  at  the  confes- 
sional, and  there  are  no  people  in  the  world  more 
capable  of  understanding  the  force  of  the  con- 
science than  the  Catholic  priesthood.  No  doubt 
many  principles  operate  collaterally  in  the  practice 
of  confession,  especially  the  passions  of  hope  and 
fear ;  but  in  a  vast  majority  of  cases  conscience 
is  the  chief  working  power  that  supports  the  con- 
fessional, and  in  some  sense  may  be  thought  the 
support  of  the  whole  fabric  of  the  Catholic  Church. 

In  most  cases,  the  w^ord  spirit  in  the  Psalms 
and  Proverbs,  as  well  as  elsewhere  in  Scripture, 
means  conscience  ;  as  in  Prov.  xviii.  14,  —  "  The 
spirit  of  a  man  will  sustain  his  infirmity  ;  but  a 
wounded  spirit  who  can  bear  ?  "  —  which  means 
just  this,  that  a  good  conscience  will  sustain  a 
man  under  infirmities,  but  no  man  can  bear  a 
wounded  conscience  ;  and  because  this  is  the  case, 
and  because  the  means  of  reconciliation  are  not 
so  much  the  object  of  conscience  as  of  judgment, 
which  is  liable  to  err,  multitudes  of  men  seek  it 
in  the  forms  of  an  established  creed  adjudged  by 
others  to  be  solely  efficacious.  The  confessional 
affords  the  means  of  a  reconciliation  with  God, 
that  is,  with  one's  own  conscience :  for  it  comes 


ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS.  65 

to  this  at  last.  No  Catholic  can  feel  that  he  is 
accepted  with  God  until  he  has  satisfied  his  own 
conscience  by  a  compliance  with  what  is  judged 
to  be  necessary  for  that  purpose.  All  sacrifices, 
modes  of  worship,  compliance  with  church  forms 
and  ceremonies,  etc.,  have  at  last  but  the  one 
great  object,  to  wit,  a  feeling  of  oneness  or  accept- 
ance with  God,  and  this  in  its  essence  means  just 
this  and  no  more,  that  a  man  may  become  recon- 
ciled in  his  own  conscience.  Leave  but  the  slight- 
est flaw  upon  the  conscience,  and  man  to  this  ex- 
tent is  an  outlaw  and  an  exile  from  God's  presence ; 
and  this  is  not  a  contingent,  but  a  necessary  result. 

The  difficulty  in  this  question  does  not  lie  in 
the  conscience,  but,  as  I  have  already  said,  in  the 
judgment  as  to  means  employed  in  executing  the 
dictates  of  conscience.  For  example,  it  is  right 
for  a  man  to  seek  the  glory  of  God ;  but  to  do 
this  intelligently  requires  the  most  profound  of  all 
knowledge,  the  knowledge  of  God,  and  of  what 
is  for  his  glory :  or,  if  it  be  right  for  a  man  to 
seek  beatitude  either  here  or  hereafter,  a  similar 
species  of  knowledge  is  required.  Whether  this 
knowledge  is  possible  except  to  a  purified  con- 
science may  be  a  question,  and  on  this  point  the 
Alchemists    might   have   to   defend   themselves  ;    I 

6* 


66         ALCHEMY  AND  THE  ALCHEMISTS. 

merely  suggest  the  point,  to  show  that  it  has  oc- 
curred to  me. 

If  any  one  should  now  ask  what  this  conscience 
is,  and  what  its  origin,  I  would  put  him  upon  his 
conscience  to  answer,  quite  sure  that,  if  he  has  one, 
he  need  but  interrogate  it  ;  while,  if  he  has  no 
conscience,  it  is  certain  he  will  never  be  brought 
to  the  bar  of  it;  but  it  is  equally  certain  that  such 
a  man  will  never  know  what  it  is  to  be  free,  but 
he  must  live  and  die  a  slave  to  his  passions,  and 
shall  never  know  true  peace  of  mind. 

I  do  not  wish  to  be  understood  as  saying  that 
mercury^  our  mercury^  philosophical  mercury^  etc. 
are  expressions  used  always  in  one  sense.  Very 
far  from  it.  Mercury  is  often  used  for  man  simply, 
but  sometimes  it  is  used  for  nature  in  a  universal 
sense  ;  then  for  what  some  understand  by  the  spirit 
of  nature,  and  again  for  the  spirit  of  man,  every 
writer  taking  some  latitude  in  the  use  of  this,  and 
indeed  of  every  other  word  used  symbolically,  pur- 
posely, it  would  seem,  to  compel  the  student  to 
verify  what  is  said  by  testing  it  with  "  the  pos- 
sibility of  nature."  Some  of  the  writers  invent 
new  words  altogether,  having  no  meaning  at  all, 
leaving  the  reader  to  divine  the  meaning  by  the 
qualities  attributed  to  it ;  as  if  one  should  describe 


ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS.  67 

erlf')  by  saying  that  it  is  something  by  which  an 
apple  might  be  roasted,  it  would  not  be  difficult 
to  discover  that  erif  meant  ^re. 

As  a  general  rule,  the  conscience  is  called  philo- 
sophical mercury,  or  our  mercury ;  but,  by  whatever 
name  it  may  be  called,  it  is  the  instrument  of  im- 
provement, and  the  icay  to  the  end. 

I  admit  that  the  work  is  "  circular,"  as  the  writ- 
ers say  themselves,  and  that  the  end  is  in  some 
sense  the  beginning  also,  which  perhaps,  as  one 
single  point,  is  the  greatest  secret  of  the  ivhole  mat- 
ter. Hence  the  writers  tell  us  that,  to  make  gold, 
we  must  have  gold  ;  which  is  not  very  obscure, 
after  all,  if  we  understand  that  whoever  would  find 
truth  must  be  true  :  and  this  is  Scriptural  also,  for 
whoever  would  find  grace  must  have  grace  to 
seek  it. 

We  are  in  the  midst  of  the  universe,  and  know 
nothing  either  of  its  beginning  or  ending,  except 
as  both  are  contained  in  the  present;  and  how  to 
understand  this  cannot  but  be  difficult,  and  must 
reduce  all  reasoning  upon  the  subject  to  a  circle 
or  a  nullity.  But  the  fact  precedes  all  argument, 
and  so  does  the  conscience,  and  both  equally  pros- 
trate all  attempts  to  ignore  them. 

Having  spoken  of  various  uses  of  the  word  mer- 


68  ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS. 

cury^  I  may  as  well  say,  that,  in  a  great  multitude 
of  places,  some  two  words  will  be  found  coupled 
together,  yet  not  always  in  the  same  sense  ;  as, 
Sol  and  Luna,  gold  and  silver,  masculine  and  fem- 
inine, brother  and  sister,  the  Doves  of  Diana,  cir- 
culatum  majus  and  circulatum  minus,  the  greater 
magnet  and  the  lesser  magnet;  and,  indeed,  an 
endless  variety  of  other  names,  the  sense  of  which 
must  be  determined  by  the  context,  tested  by  "  the 
possibility  of  nature."  It  may  surprise  a  novice 
in  such  studies  to  observe  the  innumerable  quan- 
tity of  correlates  to  be  found  in  nature,  beginning 
with  the  macrocosm  and  microcosm  ;  for  we  have 
cause  and  effect,  active  and  passive,  heaven  and 
earth,  divine  and  human,  upper  and  lower,  good 
and  evil,  hope  and  fear,  soul  and  body,  and  an 
endless  quantity  of  other  doubles  ;  for  we  read, 
"  All  things  are  double  one  against  another  ;  and 
God  hath  made  nothing  imperfect.  One  thing 
establishes  the  good  of  another."  (Ecclesiasticus 
xlii.  24.)  Where  I  have  ventured  to  use  the  words 
Soiil  and  Body,  in  the  interpretation  of  some  of 
these  doubles,  I  must  be  excused  for  begging  the 
reader  not  to  imagine  that  by  the  bare  use  of 
these  words  the  things  are  known  ;  and  before  he 
thinks  he  knows  these  things,  I  would  recommend 


ALCHEMY  AND  THE  ALCHEMISTS.         69 

him  to  look  for  them  in  the  "chest"  where  Wil- 
helm  Meister  found  David  and  Goliath  peaceably- 
side  by  side. 

The  reader  will  observe  that  I  am  merely  en- 
deavoring to  suggest  the  mode  of  writing  adopted 
by  the  Alchemists,  without  defending  it.  I  intend 
to  show  presently  that  the  conscience,  a  complete 
knowledge  of  which  must  not  be  assumed,  is  the 
touchstone  of  all  their  writings,  and  that  the  ivay 
to  the  Philosopher's  Stone  is  through  or  by  means 
of  it.  Nothing  can  exceed  the  simplicity  of  it  from 
this  point  of  view,  while  from  another  point  of 
view  there  is  no  mystery  exceeding  it,  for  it  is 
commensurate  with  life  itself.  It  is  the  mystery 
of  life. 

If  the  conscience  is  the  way  to  the  Philosopher's 
Stone,  I  hear  exclaimed,  why  not  speak  out  plainly 
about  it  ?  what  is  the  need  of  this  mystical  talk 
about  salt,  sulphur,  and  mercury?  This  question, 
no  doubt,  often  recurs.  I  have  already  stated  what 
I  consider  two  reasons  for  the  secret  mode  of  writ- 
ing, and  may  add  here,  that  the  very  simplicity 
of  the  doctrine,  or  the  entrance  to  it,  provokes  a 
doubt  or  denial  of  the  efficacy  of  this  sort  of  mer- 
cury in  working  any  very  extraordinarily  good 
end;   hence   men   look   abroad,    away  from   them- 


70  ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS. 

selves,  and  would  have  some  marvellous,  if  not 
miraculous  and  incomprehensible,  means  of  bring- 
ing about  the  hope  of  better  things  in  some  distant 
future.  Besides,  almost  all  men  wish  to  be  saved 
in  or  with  their  sins  ("superfluities"),  and  not  by 
a  separation  from  them.  The  doctrine  of  Christ, 
which  the  Alchemists  strictly  follow,  is  unmistaka- 
bly against  this ;  still,  with  multitudes  of  men  the 
hope  of  the  future  is  but  little  better  than  an  arti- 
ficial compromise,  by  which  the  sinner  consents  to 
accept  the  promise  of  a  future  upon  condition,  se- 
cretly stipulated,  of  being  undisturbed  in  the  pres- 
ent. To  be  sure,  the  future  has  its  claims  upon 
us;  but  perhaps  the  only  way  to  secure  it  is  to 
be  right  now,  and  keep  so. 

As  the  word  mercury  is  used  in  several  senses, 
so  is  that  oi  fire.  In  some  cases  it  means  the  in- 
tellect, but  in  general  it  means  the  conscience  in 
the  individual :  sometimes  it  means  what  is  not 
inappropriately  called  the  public  conscience  :  or 
it  is  the  principle  in  the  race^  which  is  perpetual, 
surviving  all  fluctuations  in  society  and  govern- 
ments ;  it  lives  on  in  defiance  of  all  sophistry,  and 
remains  for  ever  undisturbed  by  philosophical  and 
religious  disputes. 

Bishop   Taylor  has  said,  that  "  God  hath  given 


ALCHEMY  AND  THE  ALCHEMISTy.         71 

US  conscience  to  be  in  his  stead  to  us,  to  give  us 
laws,  and  to  exact  obedience  to  those  laws,  to 
punish  them  that  prevaricate,  and  to  reward  the 
obedient.  And  therefore,"  continues  this  great  man, 
"  conscience  is  called  the  household  guardian  and 
domestic  god,  the  spirit  or  angel  of  the  place ;  and 
when  we  call  God  to  witness,  we  only  mean  that 
our  conscience  is  right,  and  that  God,  and  God's 
vicar,  our  conscience,  knows  it." 

"  Conscience,"  says  Dr.  South,  "  is  a  Latin  word, 
though  with  an  English  termination,  and,  according 
to  the  very  notation  of  it,  imports  a  double  or  joint 
knowledge  ;  to  wit,  one  of  a  divine  law  or  rule, 
and  the  other  of  a  man's  own  action  ;  and  so  is 
properly  the  application  of  a  general  law  to  a  par- 
ticular instance  of  practice." 

But  the  conscience,  as  I  have  repeatedly  said,  is 
only  the  ivay  or  means  in  what  is  called  the  great 
icork ;  indispensable,  indeed  ;  for  without  it  the 
Alchemists  say  that  nothing  can  be  done  in  the 
"  Art "  ;  but  this  initial  point  being  secured,  they 
then  speak  of  sowings  in  this  philosophical  mercury^ 
what  they  call  the  Philosophical  Gold,  which  is 
sometimes  called  Venus. 

This  is  Love;  the  love  of  God  and  man;  about 
which  I  confess  I  am  unwilling  to  say  much,  lest 


72  ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS. 

I  venture  beyond  my  depth.  Those  who  wish  to 
see  some  account  of  it  in  Plato  may  consult  the 
Banquet,  and  learn  to  substitute  for  the  vulgar 
notion  of  Platonic  Love,  an  inspiration  of  the  love 
of  Truth  ;  for  this  is  the  Platonic  Love,  engrafted 
only  on  a  purified  conscience,  and  inaccessible  to 
a  profane  man  while  living  in  his  sins. 

For  the  proofs  now  of  what  I  have  thus  far  ad- 
vanced, I  shall  cite  passages  from  several  authors 
referred  to  by  both  the  French  writer  and  the  Re- 
viewer,  and  from  some  not  mentioned  by  either. 
They  both  refer  to  Isaac  Hollandiis,  (of  the  fifteenth 
century,  according  to  Du  Fresnoy,)  but  give  no 
account  of  either  him  or  his  work. 

I  will  make  a  few  extracts  from  his  writings, 
which  will  be  easily  understood  with  the  expla- 
nations I  have  given.  The  title  of  the  volume  is: 
"  A  Work  of  Saturn.  By  John  Isaac  Hollandus. 
Published  in  English,  1670." 

I  have  said  that  the  Alchemists  often  speak  of 
man  by  the  names  of  metals,  and  that  they  fre- 
quently call  these  by  astronomical  names.  In  this 
treatise,  Saturn  stands  for  Lead ;  but  as  by  Lead 
is  meant  man,  as  will  be  seen  presently,  the  real 
title  of  the  work  is  A  Treatise  of  Man.  To  guard 
against  misapprehension,  even  on  a  minor  point,  I 


ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS.  73 

should  say,  that  by  Saturn  is  sometimes  meant,  not 
merely  man,  but  man  in  a  state  of  humility. 

The  Preface  by  the  English  translator,  being 
short  and  "  suggestive,"  I  will  copy  entke,  as  fol- 
lows. 

"  Courteous  Reader^  -^  The  philosophers  have 
written  much  of  their  Lead,  which  is  prepared  out 
of  Anti?7ioni/,  as  Basilius  hath  taught ;  and  I  am  of 
opinion  that  this  Saturnine  work  of  the  most  excel- 
lent philosopher,  M.  John  Isaac  Hollandus,  is  not  to 
be  understood  of  common  lead,  if  the  matter  of  the 
stone  be  not  much  more  thereby  intended,  but  of 
the  Philosophers  Lead.  But  whether  the  vulgar 
Saturn  be  the  matter  of  the  philosopher's  stone  or 
not,  you  will  receive  sufficient  satisfaction  from  the 
following  work,  which  is  published  for  the  benefit 
of  all  the  lovers  of  this  Art,  because  it  expounds 
and  declares  the  Stone  of  Fire.      ValeP 

The  Stone  of  Fire  is  the  end  of  the  practice,  of 
which  I  do  not  wish  to  speak  at  large.  I  only 
insist  that  the  subject  is  man,  and  I  shall  endeavor 
to  point  out  the  xcay,  —  to  wit,  by  the  conscience. 

"  In  the  name  of  the  Lord.     Amen. 

"  My  child  must  know  that  the  stone,  called  the 
Philosopher's  Stone,  comes  out  of  Saturn. 

"  And  know,  my  child,  for   a   truth,  that  in  the 

7 


74  ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS. 

whole  vegetable  world  there  is  no  higher  nor  greater 
secret  than  there  is  in  Saturn  :  [that  is,  man  is 
the  miracle  of  the  universe,  and  contains  within 
himself  the  greatest  of  secrets,  —  which  those  ought 
to  believe  who  regard  him  as  the  image  of  God  :] 
for  w^e  do  not  find  that  perfection  in  gold  which  is 
found  in  Saturn ;  because,  internally,  it  is  good 
gold  [it  contains  the  image  of  God]  ;  herein  all  of 
the  philosophers  are  agreed ;  and  it  wants  nothing 
else  but  that  first  you  remove  what  is  superfluous  in 
it;  and  then,  that  you  turn  its  inside  outwards, 
which  is  its  redness :  then  it  will  be  good  gold. 
[This  is  only  another  way  of  teaching  with  that 
of  Isaiah.  I  do  not  say  it  is  as  good  a  method,  but 
I  affirm  that  Hollandus  means  the  same  as  Isaiah, 
where  he  says  (chap,  i.)  :  "  Wash  you,  make  you 
clean ;  put  away  the  evil  of  your  doings  from  be- 
fore mine  eyes,"  &c.  Verse  22  of  this  chapter  is 
in  the  language  appropriated  by  the  Alchemists : 
"  Thy  silver  is  become  dross,  thy  wine  mixed  with 
w^ater."]  For,"  says  Hollandus,  in  continuation, 
"gold  cannot  be  made  so  easily  from  anything 
as  from  Saturn ;  for  Saturn  is  easily  dissolved  and 
congealed,  and  its  mercury  may  be  more  easily 
extracted  from  it.  [The  theory  here  is,  that  the 
conscience  wull  manifest  itself  and  become  active, 


ALCHEMY  AND  THE  ALCHEMISTS.         75 

when  the  superfluities  in  which  it  lies  buried  are 
removed;  in,  perhaps,  the  sense  of  James  i.  21.] 
And  this  mercmy  extracted  from  Saturn,  being 
purified  and  sublimed,  as  mercury  is  usually  sub- 
limed, I  tell  thee,  my  child,  that  the  same  mer- 
cury is  as  good  as  the  mercury  extracted  out  of 
gold  in   all  operations." 

An  allusion  is  here  intended,  that  all  men  are  of 
one  nature  essentially,  and  that  all  partake  of  the 
image  of  the  Eternal. 

"  If  Saturn  be  gold  internally,  as  in  truth  it  is, 
then  must  its  mercury  be  as  good  as  the  mercury  of 
gold. 

"  My  child,  lock  this  up  in  thy  heart  and  under- 
standing: this  Saturn  is  the  stone,  which  the  phi- 
losopher's will  not  name  ;  its  name  has  been  con- 
cealed unto  this   day The  name  remains 

concealed,  because  of  the  evils  which  might  proceed 
from  its  being  known.  [Observe  the  reasons  al- 
ready given  for  secrecy,  especially  the  second  rea- 
son, viz.  the  danger  of  proposing  a  change  in  the 
ground  of  duty,  from  that  of  a  hope  of  reward,  to 
a  sense  of  duty,  as  it  is  a  duty^  independently  of 
both   hope  and  fear.] 

"  All  of  the  strange  parables  which  the  philoso- 
phers have  spoken  mystically  of  a  stone,  a  moon,  a 


76         ALCHEMY  AXD  THE  ALCHEMISTS. 

furnace,  a  vessel,  —  all  this  is  Saturn  [that  is,  all 
is  said  of  man] ;  for  you  must  not  put  any  strange 
thing  [anything  foreign  to  its  nature],  but  only  that 
which  comes  out  of  it.  There  is  none  so  poor  in 
this  world,  that  cannot  operate  and  promote  this 
work ;  for  Luna  may  be  easily  made  of  Saturn,  in 
a  short  time,  [here  Luna  stands  for  the  affections 
purified,]  and  in  a  little  time  longer  Sol  may  be 
made  from  it.  [By  >So/,  here,  I  understand  the  in- 
tellect, which  becomes  clarified  in  proportion  as  the 
affections  become  purified ;  a  great  deal  of  what  is 
called  intellect — a  brisk  smartness  and  cunning 
cleverness,  the  product  of  animal  spirits  aided  by  a 
good  memory  —  is  not  the  true  Sol.] 

"  And  though  a  man  be  poor,  yet  may  he  very 
well  attain  unto  it,  and  may  be  employed  in  making 
the  philosopher's  stone." 

That  is,  every  man,  no  matter  how  humble  his 
vocation,  may  do  the  best  he  can,  in  his  place,  —  may 
"love  mercy,  do  justly,  and  walk  humbly  with 
God";  and  what  more  doth  God  require  of  any 
man?  (Micah  vi.  8.)  M.  Figuier  observes,  that  a 
great  number  of  authors  certify  that  the  poor  pos- 
sess the  philosopher's  stone,  as  v/ell  as  the  rich ;  and 
certainly  they  do,  if  we  understand  by  it  truth, 
goodness,    moral    perfection,    the    Divine   blessing. 


ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS.  77 

Sandivogius  says :  "  I  doubt  not  but  many  men 
of  good  consciences  and  affections  do  secretly  en- 
joy this  gift  of  God."  Yet  this  could  not  open  the 
eyes  of  M.  Figuier. 

"  Wherefore,  my  child,"  continues  Hollandus, 
"  all  that  we  have  need  of  is  concealed  in  Saturn  ; 
for  in  it  is  a  perfect  mercury ;  in  it  are  all  the  colors 
of  the  world." 

That  is,  the  whole  universe  in  some  sense  lies 
in  the  nature  of  man,  whence  have  proceeded  all 
religions,  all  philosophies,  all  histories,  all  fables, 
all  poesy,  all  arts   and  sciences. 

"  The  eye  of  man  cannot  endure  anything  that  is 
imperfect,  how  little  soever  it  be ;  though  it  should 
be  the  least  atom  of  dust,  it  would  cause  pain,  so 
that  he  could  not  rest.  But  if  you  take  the  quan- 
tity of  a  bean  of  Saturn,  shave  it  smooth  and  round, 
and  put  it  into  the  eye,  it  will  cause  no  pain  at 
all." 

This  is  only  a  mode  of  saying  that  the  con- 
science, the  eye  of  the  soul,  cannot  bear  the  least 
falsehood;  but  it  receives  truth  as  congenerous 
with  its  nature. 

"  The  reason  is,  that  Saturn  is  internally  per- 
fect, even  as  gold  and  precious  stones.  By  these 
and  other  speeches,  [dark  sayings,  Prov.  i.  6,]  you 

7* 


78  ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS. 

may  observe  that  Saturn  is  our  philosopher's  stone, 
and  our  Latten,  out  of  which  our  mercury  and  our 
stone  is  extracted  with  small  labor,  little  art  and 
expense,  and  in  a  short  time. 

"  Wherefore  I  admonish  you,  my  child,  and  all 
those  who  know  its  name,  that  you  conceal  it  from 
the  people,  [that  is,  from  people  in  general,  who 
have  neither  leisure  nor  inclination  to  think  of  these 
things,]  by  reason  of  the  evil  that  might  otherwise 
arise;  and  you  shall  call  the  stone  our  Latten;  and 
call  the  vinegar^  luater^  wherein  our  stone  is  to  be 
washed." 

The  vinegar  is  the  conscience,  wherein  the  man  \ 
is  to  be  washed.  It  is  called  by  infinite  other  jt 
names,  as  oil,  honey,  wormwood,  &c.,  &c.  \.^ 

i  i 

"  This  is  the  stone  and  the  water  whereof  the  jj 
philosophers  have  written  so  many  volumes.  | 

"  This  stone  is  the  true  aurum  potabi/e,  the  true  5 
quintessence  which  we  seek ;  and  we  seek  no  other  i^ 
thing  in  the  world  but  this  stone.  Therefore  the  i 
philosophers  say,  that  whoever  knows  our  stone,  i| 
and  can  prepare  it,  [that  is,  perfect  it,]  needs  no 
more;  w^herefore  they  sought  this  thing,  and  no 
other." 

In  short,  it  is  the  one  thing  needful,  or  the  way 
to  it.  to  wit,  the   perfect  approval  of  a  conscience 


ALCHEMY  AND  THE  ALCHEMISTS.         79 

purified  in  the  presence  of  God;  for,  examine  the 
matter  as  closely  as  we  may,  we  shall  find  no 
ground  for  supposing  God's  approval  of  us  but  our 
own  self-approval,  ascertained  in  the  closet  and  not 
put  to  vote  in  the  market-place. 

Thus  writes  Isaac  Hollandus,  who,  M.  Figuier 
and  the  English  Reviewer  imagine,  was  in  pursuit 
of  an  a^ent  for  the  transmutation  of  metals. 

Another  of  the  genuine  Alchemists,  referred  to  by 
the  Reviewer,  is  Artephius,  (of  the  twelfth  century, 
according  to  Du  Fresnoy,)  whom  he  laughs  at  for 
saying  that  he  had  lived  a  thousand  years.  He  is 
not  the  first  to  ridicule  this,  Swift  and  Butler  hav- 
ing fully  occupied  the  ground.  As  old  a  writer  as 
Sallust,  the  Platonic  philosopher,  in  his  treatise  on 
the  Gods,  has  given  a  rule  for  the  interpretation  of 
extravagances,  and  even  abominations,  found  in 
old  poems  and  philosophies.  That,  says  he,  which 
in  a  literal  sense  is  manifestly  absurd  and  impos- 
sible, must  be  understood  in   some  other  sense. 

It  was  upon  this  principle  that  Philo  interpreted 
the  sacred  writings  of  his  nation,  and  Origen  pur- 
sued the  same  method  with  the  New  Testament. 

In  the  case  of  Artephius,  a  slight  acquaintance 
with  the  books  of  the  Alchemists  will  inform  any 
one  that  these  writers,  at  times,  call  months  years^ 


80         ALCHEMY  AND  THE  ALCHEMISTS. 

weeks  months^  &c.  Roger  Bacon  in  one  place 
speaks  of  a  philosophic  month,  which  he  says  is 
forty  days.  This  may  be  ridiculous,  but  if  any  one 
is  disposed  to  comment  upon  it,  the  whole  should 
be  taken  together. 

By  this  it  appears  that  Artephius  was  something 
over  eighty  years  of  age  when  he  wrote  a  work,  as 
I  say,  upon  Man^  though  the  book  purports  to  be 
on  Antimony^  which  he  defines  as  "  a  mineral 
participating  of  Saturnine  parts  [in  the  sense  of 
Hollandus,  who  wrote  of  Saturn],  and  has  in  all 
respects  the  nature  thereof." 

That  which  Artephius  calls  antinionial  vinegar  is 
what  Hollandus  charged  his  pupil  to  call  ivater  (to 
"deceive  the  profane").  In  plain  words,  as  simple 
as  it  may  seem,  they  both  mean  the  conscience; 
and  when  Artephius  says,  that  "without  antimonial 
vinegar  no  metal  can  be  lohitened,^^  he  means,  that 
without  the  conscience  no  man  can  be  purified. 
Artephius  calls  it  by  many  names,  besides  antimo- 
nial vinegar;  as  acrid  vinegar;  oil;  dissolving  iva- 
ter ;  the  fountain;  balneum  manice ;  the  preternatural 
fire;  the  secret,  hidden,  and  invisible  fire ;  pure,  clear 
ivater ;  and  many  other  names  ;  and  says  that  "  it  is 
the  only  apt  and  natural  medium,  by  which  we 
ought   to   resolve    [dissolve,    humiliate]    the    perfect 


ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS.  81 

bodies  of  Sol  and  Luna  [Soul  and  Body],  by  a  won- 
derful and  solemn  dissolution,  with  a  preservation 
of  the  species,  and  without  any  destruction,  unless 
it  be  to  a  new,  more  noble,  and  better  form  of  gener- 
ation ;  to  ivit,  into  the  perfect  philosopher's  stone." 

"  Now  this  luater,''^  says  he,  "  is  a  certain  middle 
substance,  clear  as  fine  silver,  which  ought  to  re- 
ceive the  Tinctures  [the  essences]  of  Sol  and  Lima 
[Soul  and  Body],  so  that  they  may  be  congealed 
and  changed  into  a  white  [pure]  and  living'  earth." 

By  the  use  of  the  expression  middle  substance, 
Artephius  would  have  us  think  of  the  conscience  as 
something  between  the  Soul  and  Body,  without  be- 
ing precisely  either,  and  yet  the  tie  of  both,  the  Soul 
being  the  fabricating  cause  of  the  Body,  and  the 
Body  being  the  embodiment  of  the  Soul,  —  as  Swe- 
denborg  expresses  it.  But  whoever  would  study  the 
conscience  must  not  be  deluded  by  mere  words. 

"  This  water,"  says  Artephius,  "  needs  the  perfect 
bodies,  that  with  them  after  the  dissolution  it  may 
be  congealed,  fixed,  and  coagulated  into  a  white 
earth." 

If  the  reader  will  weigh  distinctly  each  passage, 
thinking  of  the  nature  of  the  tiling,  and  not  be  over- 
critical  upon  the  manner  of  expressing  it,  he  may 
with  no    great  difficulty  understand  the  theory  of 


82  ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS. 

these  writers.  The  truth  or  falsehood  of  the  theory, 
is  an  independent  inquiry,  about  which,  of  course, 
there  may  be  differences  of  opinion.  The  first  step 
is  dissolution  (sometimes  called  calcination,  and  by 
many  other  names),  effected  by  the  conscience  as  a 
spiritual  power,  by  which  the  man  is  summoned,  as 
it  were,  into  the  presence  of  God,  and  feels  the 
nothingness  of  all  mere  human  attractions,  and  the 
impossibility  of  evasion,  prevarication,  and  deceit, 
and  thus  becomes  as  a  little  child,  according  to  the 
requirement  of  Mark  x.  15,  the  instant  of  submis- 
sion being  also  the  beginning  of  a  new  life. 

"But  their  solution,"  continues  Artephius,  *'is 
also  their  coagulation :  they  have  one  and  the  same 
operation,  for  one  is  not  dissolved,  but  the  other  is 
congealed.  Nor  is  there  any  other  loater  which 
can  dissolve  the  bodies,  but  that  which  ahideth 
ivith  them  in  inatter  and  formy 

I  must  call  attention  to  the  principle  just  indi- 
cated, as  containing  a  fund  of  wisdom  for  all  who 
are  charged  with  the  moral  and  spiritual  education 
of  man,  who  is  not  "effectually"  improved  but  by 
the  action  of  something  proper  to  his  nature,  and 
which  remains  with  it.  This  is  what  Hollandus 
means,  when  he  says  of  Saturn^  that  nothing  must 
be  put  into  it  but  that  which  arises  from  it.  Arte- 
phius proceeds  :  — 


ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS.  83 

"  It  cannot  be  permanent  unless  it  be  of  the  nature 
of  the  other  bodies,  that  they  may  be  made  one. 
Thus  you  see  that  nature  is  to  be  amended  by  its 
own  like  nature  ;  that  is,  gold  and  silver  [he  means 
Sol  and  Luna]  are  to  be  exalted  in  our  ivater  [the 
water  of  Hollandus],  as  our  water  also  with  those 
bodies  ;  which  water  is  called  the  medium  of  the 
soul,  u'ithout  u'hich  Clothing-  can  be  done  in  our  art. 
It  is  a  vegetable,  mineral,  and  animal  fire,  which 
conserves  the  fixed  spirits  [the  essence  or  substance] 
of  Sol  and  Luna,  but  destroys  and  conquers  their 
bodies ;  for  it  destroys,  overturns,  and  changes  bod- 
ies and  metallic  forms  [that  is,  Sol  and  Luna, 
modally  considered],  making  them  to  be  no  bodies 
but  a  fixed  spirit." 

Artephius  then  urges,  altogether  in  figures  how- 
ever, that  the  ivater  cannot  penetrate  imperfect  met- 
als in  their  dnj,  hard  stale,  and  therefore  they  must 
hQ  softened  and  brought  into  a  "fluid  matter"  (of 
course,  this  is  all  metaphorical)  ;  but  this  is  effected 
by  the  icater  itself,  which  "  attenuates,  alters,  and 
softens  the  bodies,  to  wit,  Sol  and  Luna,  that  so 
they  may  be  mixed  with  other  bodies."  The  reader 
may  remember  the  properties  attributed  to  the  vola- 
tile salt  of  vipers,  and  may  understand  that  a  com- 
mon idea  prevails.  Artephius  now  speaks  of  it 
under  another  name,  and  says  :  — 


84  ALCHEMY    AXD    THE    ALCHEMISTS. 

"  It  is  an  oil  by  nature  hot,  subtle,  penetrating, 
sinking  through  and  entering  into  other  bodies:  it 
is  called  the  perfect  or  great  Elixir,  and  the  hidden 
secret  of  the  wise  searchers  of  nature.  He,  there- 
fore, who  knows  this  salt  of  Sul  and  Luna,  and  its 
generation  and  preparation,  and  afterwards  how  to 
commix  it,  and  make  it  homog-ene  with  other  im- 
perfect bodies,  knows,  in  truth,  one  of  the  greatest 
secrets  of  nature,  and  the  only  way  that  leads  to 
perfection." 

"  These  Bodies,"  he  continues,  "  thus  dissolved 
by  our  water,  [that  is,  the  Soul  and  Body  dissolved 
by  the  conscience,  and  not  brought  into  a  state  of 
humiliation  by  mortified  pride,  for  this  "  color  "  ef- 
fects nothing  in  the  art,]  are  called  Argent  vive, 
which  is  not  without  its  sulphur,  nor  the  sulphur 
without  the  fixedness  of  Sol  and  Lima;  because 
gold  and  silver  [Sol  and  Luna]  are  the  particular 
means  or  medium  in  the  form  through  which  nature 
passes  in  the  perfecting  and  completing  thereof. 
And  this  Argent  vive  is  called  our  esteemed  and 
valuable  salt,  being  animated  and  pregnant ;  and 
our  Fire,  because  it  is  nothing  but  Fire :  yet  not 
fire,  but  sulphur ;  and  not  sulphur  only,  but  also 
quicksilver,  drawn  from  Sol  and  Luna  by  our  ivater, 
and  reduced  into  a  Stone  of  great  price  :  that  is  to 


^    ^ 


ALCHExMY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS.  85 

say,  it  is  the  matter  or  substance  of  Sol  and  Lima, 
or  silver  and  g-old  altered  from  vileness  to  nobility." 

Artephius  calls  it  a  "  living  water  which  comes  to 
moisten  the  earth,  that  it  may  spring  forth,  and  in 
due  season  bring  forth  much  fruit";  comparing  it 
to  rain,  saying,  "it  penetrates  the  bodies  and  makes 
one  new  body  of  two  bodies." 

"  This  aqua  vitce,  or  water  of  Life  [here  are  other 
names  for  the  same  thing],  being  rightly  ordered 
[i.  e.  rightly  or  naturally  brought  into  action],  and 
disposed  with  the  body,  it  whitens  it,  and  converts 
or  changes  it  into  a  white  color  [purifies  it]." 

Artephius  then  calls  it  Azoth,  and  the  ivater 
ivashing  Latten.  The  reader  will  remember  that 
Hollandus  called  his  Saturn  Latten,  and  his  vinegar 
ivater. 

The  philosopher  now  exclaims :  "  How  precious, 
then,  and  how  great  a  thing,  is  this  water !  for  with- 
out it  the  ivork  could  never  be  done  or  perfected  :  it 
is  also  called  vas  naturce,  the  belly,  the  womb,  the 
receptacle  of  the  tincture,  the  earth,  the  nurse.  It 
is  the  royal  fountain  in  which  the  King  and  Queen 
[Sol  and  Luna  again,  for  the  names  are  infinitely 
varied]  bathe  themselves ;  and  the  mother  which 
must  be  put  into  and  sealed  up  within  the  belly  of 
her  infant ;  and  that  is  Sol  himself,  who  proceeded 
8 


86         ALCHEMY  AND  THE  ALCHEMISTS. 

from  her,  and  whom  she  brought  forth  ;  and  there- 
fore they  have  loved  one  another  as  mother  and  son, 
and  are  conjoined  together,  because  they  came  from 
one  root  and  are  of  the  same  substance  and  nature. 
And  because  this  water  is  the  water  of  the  vegeta- 
ble life,  it  causes  the  dead  body  to  vegetate,  increase, 
and  spring  forth,  and  to  rise  from  death  to  life^  by 
being  dissolved  first  and  then  sublimed.  And  in 
doing  this  the  body  is  converted  into  a  spirit,  and 
the  spirit  afterwards  into  a  body ;  and  then  is  made 
the  amity,  the  peace,  the  concord,  and  the  union  of 
the  contraries,  to  wit,  between  the  body  and  the 
spirit,  which  reciprocally  or  naturally  change  their 
natures,  which  they  receive  and  communicate  one 
to  another  through  their  most  minute  parts." 

He  goes  on  to  say  that  "in  this  operation  the 
Body  is  made  a  Spirit,  of  a  most  subtle  nature  ;  and 
again,  the  Spirit  is  corporified  and  changed  into  the 
nature  of  the  Body,  with  the  Bodies,  whereby  our 
Stone"  [can  any  one  doubt  the  meaning  of  the 
author  ?  that,  man]  "  consists  of  a  Bod?/,  a  Sou!,  and 
a  Spirit.''^ 

"  It  appears,  then,"  says  Artephius,  "  that  this 
composition  is  not  a  work  of  the  hands,  but  a  change 
of  the  natures ;  because  nature  dissolves,  and  joins 
itself,  sublimes  and  lifts  itself  up,  and  grows  white, 


ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS.  87 

jeirig  separated  from  ihefcsces  [i.  e.  superfluities,  as 

Hollandus  called  them] Our  Brass  or  Latten 

then  is  to  be  made  to  ascend  by  the  degrees  of  Fire, 
but  of  its  own  accord,  freely,  and  without  violence. 
But  when  it  ascends  on  high,  it  is  born  in  the  Air 
or  Spirit,  and  is  changed  into  a  spirit ;  and  becomes 
Life  with  Life.  And  by  such  an  operation  it  is 
that  the  Body  is  made  of  a  subtle  nature,  and  the 
Spirit  is  incorporated  with  the  Body,  and  made  one 
with  it;  and  by  such  a  sublimation,  conjunction, 
and  raising  up,  the  whole,  Body  and  Spirit,  are 
made  white  [pure]/' 

Nearly  all  of  the  wTiters  quote  a  saying  attrib- 
uted to  "  old  Osthanes,*'  —  that  Nature  se  joint  par 
nature;  nature  s^ejouet  en  nature;  nature  amende 
nature;  nature  aime  nature;  nature  surmonte  nature; 
nature  perfectionne  nature ;  nature  contient  nature  et 
nature  est  contenue  par  nature ;  and  several  of  them 
caution  their  readers  to  keep  these  principles  strongly 
in  mind. 

All  of  the  writers  agree  that  "  violence  "  is  not  to 
be  used.  They  designate  all  appliances  to  force 
man  into  goodness  as  "  corrosives,"  "  aqua  fortis,^^ 
&c.,  and  say  that  where  they  are  used,  they  can 
only  produce  a  surface  titicture  ;  they  always  "  em- 
base  the  metal,"  and  make  it  unfit  for  the  artist. 


88  ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS. 

It  seems  impossible  not  to  perceive  that  Arte- 
phius  is  wTiting  of  3Ian,  and  is  endeavoring  to 
indicate  some  process  by  which  man  may  be  said 
to  pass,  under  the  discipline  of  God  and  Nature, 
from  a  chaotic  state  of  ignorance  and  passion  to 
a  certain  unity. 

'^  The  Spirit,"  says  he,  "  penetrates,  the  Body 
fixes,  and  the  Soul  joins  together,  tinges,  and 
whitens.  From  these  three  united  together  is  our 
Stone  made  ;  to  wit,  Sol,  Luna,  and  Mercury. 
Therefore,  with  this  our  golden-vmter,  a  natural 
substance  is  extracted,  exceeding  all  natural  sub- 
stances ;  and  so,  except  the  bodies  be  broken  and 
destroyed,  imbibed  and  made  subtle  and  fine, 
thriftily  and  diligently  managed,  till  they  are  ab- 
stracted from  or  lose  their  grossness  or  solid  sub- 
stance, and  be  changed  into  a  thin  and  subtle 
spirit,  all  our  labor  will  be  in  vain.  And  unless 
the  bodies  be  made  no  bodies,  or  incorporeal,  that 
is,  be  converted  into  the  philosopher's  mercury, 
there  is  no  rule  of  Art  yet  found  out  to  icork  hyP 

"  Now  this  operation  or  work,"  says  Artephius, 
"  is  a  thing  of  no  great  labor  to  him  that  knows 
and  understands  it ;  nor  is  the  matter  so  dear, 
considering  how  small  a  quantity  doth  suflice, 
that  it   should   cause    any   man    to   withdraw   his 


ALCHEMY  AND  THE  ALCHEMISTS.         89 

hand  from  it.  It  is  indeed  a  work  so  short  and 
easy,  that  it  may  well  be  called  a  woman's  work 
and  the  play  of  children.  Go  to,  then,  my  son, 
put  up  thy  supplications  to  God  Almighty  ;  be 
diligent  in  searching  the  books  of  the  learned  in 
this  science ;  for  one  book  openeth  another ;  think 
and  meditate  of  these  things  profoundly  ;  and 
avoid  all  things  that  vanish  in,  or  will  not  endure, 
the  fire  [avoid  everything  that  wounds  the  con- 
science], because  from  those  adustible,  perishing, 
or  consuming  things,  you  can  never  attain  to  the 
perfect  matter,  which'  is  only  found  in  the  di- 
gesting of  your  water  extracted  from  Sol  and 
Luna." 

"  This  water  is  the  true  tincture,  separated  from 
all  its  black  faeces ;  and  our  Brass  or  Latten  is 
prepared  with  our  Water,  purified  and  brought  to 
a  white  color." 

"  Which  white  color  is  not  obtained  but  by  de- 
coction, and  coagulation  of  the  water.  Decoct 
therefore  continually ;  ivash  away  the  blackness 
from  the  Latten,  7iot  ivith  your  hands,  but  ivith  the 
Stone,  or  the  Fire,  or  our  second  mercurial  luater, 
which  is  the  true    TinctureJ^ 

"  This  separation  of  the  pure  from  the  impure 
is  not  done  with  hands  ;  but  Nature   herself  does 


90  ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS. 

it,  and  brings  it  to  perfection  by  a  circular  opera- 
tion." 

"  Wherefore  decoct  the  Body  in  our  white  water, 
viz.  Mercury^  till  it  be  dissolved  into  blackness 
[humility],  and  then  by  a  continual  decoction  let 
it  be  deprived  of  the  same  blackness,  and  the  body 
so  dissolved  will  at  length  ascend  or  rise  with  a 
white  [pure]  soul." 

It  may  be  needless,  perhaps,  to  turn  the  atten- 
tion of  the  reader  to  the  "  circular "  nature  of 
this  operation,  for  he  can  hardly  fail  to  see  that 
the  water  extracts  the  water ^  lohich  extracts  the 
water;  and,  as  I  have  already  intimated,  perhaps 
the  most  difficult  of  all  the  secrets  in  Hermetic 
Philosophy  lies  precisely  here.  If  the  reader  de- 
sires to  understand  anything  of  this  philosophy, 
I  would  recommend  him  to  throw  aside,  for  the 
moment,  everything  like  a  captious  disposition, 
and,  avoiding  hypercriticism,  reflect  upon  the  course 
of  nature,  and  see  how  impossible  it  is,  by  what 
the  Germans  call  the  understanding,  "judging  ac- 
cording to  sense,"  to  seize  upon  a  first  or  a  last, 
or  a  first  which  is  not  also  a  last;  and  after  first 
losing  himself  in  this  maze,  he  may  find  himself 
all  the  stronger. 

After  turning  this  difficult  point,  he  may  be  in 


ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS.  91 

a  good  condition  for  understanding  the  wonderful 
text,  "  Whosoever  will  save  his  life  shall  lose  it ; 
and  whosoever  will  lose  his  life  for  my  sake,  shall 
find  it." 

I  must  not  omit  to  say,  that  thus  far  Artephius 
is  chiefly  speaking  of  what  some  of  the  writers 
call  the  "base"  of  the  work,  and  although  I  have 
just  hinted  at  the  end,  I  do  not  propose  to  speak 
of  it  at  length.  This  can  o.nly  be  known  by  those 
who  put  into  requisition  the  means  ;  for  nature 
never  does  anything  but  hy  means,  and  according 
to  them.     Every  man  must  reap  as  he  sows. 

The  Secret  Book  of  Artephius  contains  some 
twenty  chapters  or  more,  in  the  course  of  which 
what  is  called  the  "  great  work,"  and  sometimes 
the  "  Divine  work,"  is  indicated  by  many  repeti- 
tions, in  different  ways.  The  author  points  out 
more  of  what  may  be  called  the  theory  of  the 
Unity  in  Trinity  (or  Trinity  in  Unity),  than  is 
usually  met  with  in  these  peculiar  books. 

Basil  Valentine  (born  1414),  another  Alchemist 
referred  to  by  the  Reviewer,  also  indicates  the  Unity, 
writing  as  Artephius  did  of  Antimony;  that  is,  of 
man  under  this  name.  Everything  these  authors 
say  is  obscure  until  the  reader  takes  the  idea;  for 
example  :    "  Now,"    says    Basilius,   "  let  the   reader 


92         ALCHEMY  AND  THE  ALCHEMISTS. 

consider,  and  observe  it  as  a  thing  worthy  of  note, 
that  the  true  Unicorn'' s-horn^  sophisticated  by  no 
fallacy,  repels  all  venom  from  itself;  nor  can  it 
assume  or  draw  to  itself  anything  of  venom,  as 
is  manifest  by  experience." 

Can  any  one  read  such  a  passage,  and  imagine 
that  the  author  intended  to  be  understood  literally  ? 
Who  has  ever  known  such  an  animal  as  the  Uni- 
corn ?  Precisely  because  this  one-horned  animal 
is  fabulous,  it  answered  the  purpose  of  Basil,  which 
was  to  teach  that  the  absolute  Unity  is  necessarily 
free  from  all  evil,  and  incapable  of  being  affected 
by  it.  But  what  has  this  to  do  with  Antimony? 
It  has  much  to  do  with  it,  if,  under  the  namie  of 
Antimony,  Basil's  subject  was  INIan. 

Basil  Valentine  wrote  of  man  under  a  great 
variety  of  symbols,  but  his  principal  work  is  that 
entitled  The  Triumphal  Chariot  of  Antimony.  A 
few  passages  will  show  that  he  held  opinions  in 
common  with  all  the  Alchemists. 

"  Consider,"  says  he,  ^'  and  observe  these  things 
diligently  ;  for  this  principal  key  is  of  great  con- 
cern :  Anlimonij^  ichich  contains  in  itself  its  own 
vinegar,  ought  to  be  so  prepared  that  all  its  ve?ie- 
nosity  may  be  taken  away.  He  who  then  useth 
it,  conceives  no  venom  thereby,  but  rather  drives 
away  and  casts  out  all  poison  from  himself." 


ALCHEMY  AND  THE  ALCHEMISTS.         93 

Basilius  is  treating  of  man,  in  whom,  as  an  in- 
strument of  purification,  there  is  contained  its  own 
vinegar,  that  is,  the  "  water  "  of  Hollandus,  by  the 
use  of  which  man  may  expel  and  cast  out  of  him- 
self all  sin.     He  proceeds  :  — 

"  Therefore,  in  the  preparation  of  Antimony  con- 
sists the  Key  of  Alchemy,  by  which  it  is  dissolved, 
divided,  and  separated ;  as  in  calcination,  reverber- 
ation, sublimation,  etc.  ;  also  in  extracting  its  es- 
sence, and  in  vivifying-  its  mercury^  which  mercury 
must  afterwards  be  precipitated  in  a  fixed  powder : 
likewise,  by  Art  and  a  due  method,  of  it  may  be 
made  an  oil  for  the  cure  of  diseases." 

In  another  place  he  says :  "  You  are  to  know, 
that  in  Antimony  there  is  a  Spirit  which  affects 
whatsoever  is  in  it,  or  can  proceed  from  it,  in  an 
invisible  way  and  manner ;  no  otherwise  than  as 
in  the  magnet  is  absconded  a  certain  invisible 
power ^  as  we  shall  more  largely  treat  in  its  own 
place,  where  we  speak  of  the  magnet." 

Perhaps  I  ought  to  say,  that  many  of  these  writ- 
ers speak  of  man  as  a  Magnet^  having  in  itself  a 
principle  by  which  it  seeks  the  great  Magnet,  and 
will  never  rest  until  it  "  lies  level  with  it." 

To  show  that  his  subject  is  the  same  as  that 
of  those  who  wrote  of  Saturn  or  Lead^  Basil  says  : 


94  ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS. 

"  But  that  we  may  also  say  something  of  the 
Lead  of  the  philosophers,  let  the  curious  searchers 
of  nature  know,  that  between  Antimony  and  com- 
mon Lead  there  is  a  certain  near  affinity,  and 
they  hold  a  strict  friendship,  the  one  with  the 
other." 

He  concludes  a  work  on  the  Magyiet  in  the 
following  manner,  as  if  he  would  compel  the 
commonest  dullard  to  divine  his  meaning. 

"  Allegorical  expressions  betwixt  the  Holy  Trin- 
ity and  the  Philosopher's   Stone. 

"  Dear  Christian  Lover,  and  well-wisher  to  the 
Blessed  Art :  how  graciously  and  miraculously  hath 
the  Holy  Trinity  created  the  Philosopher's  Stone. 
For  God  the  Father  is  a  Spirit,  and  yet  maketh 
himself  known  under  the  notion  of  a  INIan,  as 
where  he  speaketh,  Gen.  chap,  i.,  Let  us  make 
man  after  our  own  image :  again,  the  expressions 
where  he  speaketh  of  his  mouth,  eyes,  hands,  and 
feet:  so  the  philosopher's  mercury  is  held  to  be 
a  spiritual  Body^  as  philosophers  call  him.  God 
the  Father  begetteth  his  only  Son  Jesus  Christ, 
which  is  God  and  man,  and  is  without  sin, 
neither  needed  he  to  die ;  but  he  laid  down  his 
life  freely,  and  rose  again,  for  his  brethren  and 
sisters'  sake,  that  they  might   live  with    him  eter- 


ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS.  95 

nally  without  sin.  So  is  Sol,  or  Gold,  without 
defect,  and  if  fixed,  holds  out  gloriously  in  all 
fiery  examens ;  but  by  reason  of  its  imperfect 
and  sick  brethren  and  sisters  [the  Soul  and  Body 
are  often  called  male  and  female,  brother  and 
sister],  it  dieth  and  riseth  gloriously,  redeemeth 
and  tingeth  them  unto  eternal  Life,  making  them 
perfect  unto  good  gold. 

"  The  third  person  of  the  Trinity  is  God  the 
Holy  Ghost,  a  comforter  sent  by  our  Lord  Christ 
Jesus  unto  his  believing  Christians,  who  strength- 
eneth  and  comforteth  them  in  faith,  unto  Eternal 
Life :  even  so  is  the  spirit  of  material  Sol,  or 
of  the  Body  of  Mercury,  when  they  come  together. 
These  are  tvv^o  spirits,  God  the  Father  and  God 
the  Holy  Ghost.  But  God  the  Son,  a  glorified 
man,  is  even  as  our  glorified  and  fixed  Sol,  or 
Philosopher's  Stone  ;  since  Lapis  is  called  Triniis, 
namely,  out  of  two  waters  [Sol  and  Lvna  con- 
sidered essentially]  or  spirits  of  mineral  and  of 
vegetable ;  and  of  the  animal  of  sulphur  of  Sol. 
These  are  the  Two  and  Three,  and  yet  but  One : 
if  you  understand  it  not,  then  you  are  not  likely 
to  succeed.  Thus  by  way  of  similitude  I  have 
delineated  unto  thee  sufficiently  the  Universal. 
Pray  to  God  for  a  blessing,  for  without  Him 
you  are  not  likely  to  prosper  at  all." 


96         ALCHEMY  AND  THE  ALCHEMISTS. 

It  seems  amazing,  in  view  of  such  passages, 
that  the  real  subject  and  object  of  Alchemy 
should  have  escaped  the  observation  of  almost 
every  one  except  those  who  cultivated  the  study; 
in  so  much,  that  there  is  scarcely  a  fragment 
of  general  literature  in  allusion  to  the  Alchemists 
but  what  implies  that  they  were  in  pursuit  of 
gold,  when,  except  some  "  deluded,  sottish  igno- 
rants,"  nothing  can  be  more  certain  than  that 
their  purpose  was  wholly  religious. 

The  reader  can  hardly  fail  to  see  the  theory 
indicated  by  Basilius,  right  or  wrong :  and  that 
he  considered  man  as  consisting  (not  composed^ 
in  a  mechanical  sense)  of  Body,  Soul,  and  Spirit; 
that  the  latter  appears  in  the  form  of  conscience, 
itself  sinless  and  incapable  of  sin,  though  asso- 
ciafed  with  a  "  sick "  brother  and  sister,  for 
whose  sake  it  mystically  dies,  but  only  to  work 
out  a  purification,  when  the  same  spirit  is  re- 
garded as  a  Magnet,  or  as  possessing  a  magnetic 
virtue  (call  it  Love)  by  which  it  seeks  the  uni- 
versal Magnet,  in  which  alone  it  has  its  Life 
and  finds  its  eternal  resting-place. 

But  see  how  one  of  these  writers  preludes  in 
a  somewhat  antiquated  language  on  this  sub- 
ject:— 


ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS.  97 

'^  Well  did  the  primitive  Grecian  give  the  name 
AXrjBeia  unto  Truth  :  whose  consanguinity,  nay,  con- 
substantiality  of  essence  with  the  Human  Soul, 
which  the  divine  philosophy  of  Moses  hath  defined 
to  be  the  breath  of  God,  doth  exactly  make  out 
that  Etymology.  For  so  incessant  a  magnetism, 
or  congenerous  Love,  doth  the  Soul  hold  unto 
Truth,  that  she  can  know  no  real  or  permanent 
satisfaction,  in  the  fruition  of  any  other  object; 
but  like  the  Aguish  magnetified  needle,  reels  to 
and  fro,  in  a  phrenzy  of  inquietude,  distracted 
twixt  various  apparitions,  until  she  lie  parallel 
unto  the  centre,  or  unity  thereof;  but  having  once 
fixed  [the  reader  should  note  this  expression,  for 
it  points  to  what  the  Alchemists  call  the  "  fix- 
ation "  of  the  matter  of  the  Stone]  in  that  happy 
position,  she  is,  by  an  eternal  union,  identified  or 
assimilated  unto  that  twin  of  herself,  and  in  that 
mysterious  penetration  of  Homogenial  forms  meets 
her  Beatitude,  which  can  never  know  defect  of  sati- 
ety, alterity  of  desires,  or  remission  of  intensity." 

The  Reviewer  thinks  Basil  Valentine,  in  seeking 
for  the  '•  Mercurius  Philosophorum "  in  Antimony, 
though  he  missed  what  he  sought,  discovered  a 
"  valuable  spirit  of  Salt,  what  we  call  the  hydro- 
chloric acid." 

9 


98  ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS. 

The  reader  is  now  prepared  to  judge  whether 
the  Spirit  sought  for  by  Basilius  in  Antimony 
had  any  affinity  with  hijdrodiloric  acid! 

I  know  very  well,  however,  that  he  did  not 
lose  sight  of  the  actual  mineral,  following  in 
this  respect  the  example  of  all  symbolic  writers, 
who  work  up  as  much  double  truth  as  possible, 
without  prejudice  to  the  real  object  under  the 
veil. 

Webster,  in  a  volume  entitled  Metallographia 
(1671),  has  written  a  Treatise  of  actual  metals; 
but  he  has  concluded  every  chapter  Alchemically 
(or  Hermetically)  by  writing,  under  a  mask,  of 
man.  A  hasty  reader  would  only  be  mystified 
a  little,  but  any  one  acquainted  with  the  mode 
of  writing  adopted  by  the  Alchemists  would  easily 
detect  the  disciple  of  Hermes. 

Van  Suchten,  like  Basil  Valentine  and  Arte- 
phius,  wrote  of  Antimony,  1670:  but  his  sub- 
ject is  also  man,  and  his  principles  coincide 
entirely  with  those  already  cited.  He  opens  his 
work  in  these  words :  — 

"  It  is  not  our  purpose  to  wTite  and  dispute,  out    |  i 

of  what  Antimony  first  cometh,  as  some  have  done."    j  \ 

That  is,  the  author  will  not  undertake  the  (vain)    iii 

I J 
inquiry  into  the   origin   of  man,  but  he  will  take     Ij 


ALCHEMY  AND  THE  ALCHEMISTS.         99 

him  as  he  finds  him.  This  is  what  he  means  in 
this  opening  passage  of  his  work. 

He  soon  declares  that,  "  in  matter  [substance], 
metals  and  antimony  are  all  one,"  and  discloses 
the  Alchemist  by  saying  that  "  Antimony  is  an 
imperfect  metal,  and  in  philosophy  is  called  Saturn 
[the  Saturn  of  Hollandus],  of  which  Rhasis  writ- 
eth,  saying,  that  in  Saturn,  Sol  and  Luna  [in  the 
sense  of  active  and  passive]  are  contained  in  po- 
tentia,  not  visibly.  Also  Pythagoras  saith,  all  se- 
crets are  in  Saturn;  and  this  Saturn  is  our  Lead, 
which  we  physicians  [philosophers]  must  know 
and  understand ;  for  it  is  created  for  us ;  it  is  ours 

and  not  another's Out  of  Antimony  by  Art 

is  aurum  potabile  made This  Art  is  named 

Alchemy 

"  Now  for  the  preparation  of  Antimony,  know 
that  Antimony  is  an  Earth  wherein  lieth  a  metal 
called  Mercury  [the  mercury  or  water  of  Hollan- 
dus again].  This  must  the  physician  draw  from 
Antimony  ;  but  the  miner  shall  first  melt  Antimony 
from  his  mineral  earth,  wherein  it  grew,  and  purify 

it Thus  is  Mercury  made  out  of  Antimony, 

out  of  Saturn,  Argent  Vive,  which  belongeth  to 
the  physician ;  out  of  which  he  shall  farther  make 
Luna^  and  out  of  Luna^  Sol;  so  hath  his  work  an 
end." 


100  ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS. 

Let  any  one  compare  this  with  the  extract  from 
Hollandus,  and  it  will  be  seen  that  what  one  says 
of  Lead^  the  other  says  of  Antimony;  but  Lead 
is  not  Antimony,  while  nevertheless  both  of  them 
may  symbolize  man,  as  they  certainly  do  in  the 
Hermetic  writings  under  examination. 

The  second  chapter  of  Van  Suchten  is,  "  of 
the  venom  of  the  physical  mercury,  his  heat  and 
sulphur,  and  of  the  glass  of  antimony,"  in  which 
a  second  step  is  taken.  By  glass  we  are  to  un- 
derstand purity,  often  spoken  of  as  crystalline 
glass.     It  is  the   White  Earth  of  Artephius. 

The  third  chapter  is  much  more  abstruse,  in 
which  the  author  speaks  of  a  certain  Fire  which 
is  called,  he  says,  Donum  Dei,  and  proceeds :  "  The 
Alchemists — I  understand  not  here,"  says  he,  "those 
sots  who  promise  riches  to  others,  yet  are  them- 
selves beggars  —  have  called  this  mystery  the  Phi- 
losopher^s  Stone,  the  Blessed  Holy  Stone,  for  this 
reason,  that  God  hath  placed  it  in  an  earthy, 
stony,  and  contemptible  matter  [man].  The  Ara- 
bians have  called  it  Alchemy,  because  Alchemy 
is  an  instrument  which  divideth  the  good  from 
the  bad  ;  and  what  is  not  mature  it  matureth. 
The  astronomers  say  it  is  Sol,  that  bringeth  all 
things  to  maturity.     So  is  this  mystery,  according 


ALCHEMY  AND  THE  ALCHEMISTS.        101 

to  the  similitude^  called  the  Sun  also.  Paracelsus, 
in  many  places,  calleth  it  Gold;  as  in  that  place 
where  he  saith,  Let  gold  he  the  seed,  he  thou  the 
growing  plant. ^^ 

Here  is  a  passage  in  condemnation  of  false 
Alchemists  :  — 

"  If  thou  dost  object,"  says  Van  Suchten,  "  that 
not  only  common  people,  but  also  great  nobles, 
have  labored  a  long  time  in  Alchemy  with  great 
expense,  including  among  them  many  very  learned 
men,  yet  not  any  of  them  have  found  anything : 
I  answer,  that  this  noble  Art  requires  a  sound  man  ; 
all  these  have  been  sick ;  they  have  had  the  gold 
sickness,  ivhich  hath  darkened  their  senses,  so  that 
they  could  not  understand  the  terms  which  the  wise 
men  use  in  the  description  of  the  Art;  seeking 
only  with  hot  desire  that  which  they  shall  never 
find.  But  what  is  to  be  found,  that  they  seek  not ; 
therefore  they  work  in  vain.  Who  is  to  be  blamed, 
the  Art  or  the  Artist,  that  they  understand  noth- 
ing ?  Alchemy  is  a  pure  and  uncorrupted  virgin ; 
she  casts  off  the  sensual  man,  and  will  have  an 
intellectual  one ;  of  whom,  at  present,  I  see  but 
few.  Let  no  man's  reason  deceive  him ;  we  can- 
not be  without  errors,  for  very  much  of  the  idol 
hangeth  on  it.     la   the  Mind  is  the  true  Intellect, 

9=^ 


102  ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS. 

which  we  must  follow,  not  reason ;  so  shall  we 
enter,  and  thereby  understand  the  wise  men,  who 

write  rare  things  and  easily  know  what  it  is 

The  first  operation  of  the  Refiner  [of  man]  is  nat- 
ural ;  the  second,  of  the  physician,  is  natural  also  ; 
but  the  third  is  Divine ;  for  God  worketh  here  alone, 
and  the  physician  standeth  here  in  his  stead." 

Van  Helmont  also  says,  that  Man  is  not  well 
defined  by  reason^  and  insists  that  there  is  some- 
thing in  him  above  reason,  which  he  calls  religion. 
Van  Suchten  and  Van  Helmont  probably  both 
refer  to  that  something,  which  the  more  modern 
phraseology  places  above  the  '•  understanding,  judg- 
ing according  to  sense  " ;  a  sort  of  intuition,  which 
some  have  not  hesitated  to  call  an  inspiration. 
This  is  what  Van  Suchten  probably  calls  the 
Mind,  and  says  it  is  not  reason.  Is  it  anything 
else  than  that  spiritual  sight  which  St.  Paul  says 
is  necessary  for  discerning  spiritual  truths  ?  The 
actual  powers  of  man  have  always  been  the  same, 
but  as  they  are  developed  in  individuals  they  take 
different  names  and  give  rise  to  controversies  about 
mere  words.  That  man  has  a  power  of  conceiving' 
truths  which  the  senses  cannot  perceive,  seems  a 
mere  matter  of  fact,  about  which  there  need  be  no 
difference  of  opinion.     The  real  difficulty  here  is 


ALCHEMY    AND  THE    ALCHEMISTS.  103 

perhaps  that  of  distinguishing  intuitions  from  mere 
imaginations. 

But  I  must  return  to  Van  Suchten,  who  says, 
after  describing  with  extraordinary  minuteness, 
though  in  figures,  the  new  birth,  that 

"  The  physician  [meaning  Teacher]  who  hath 
not  this  knowledge,  let  him  not  meddle  with  7ne7'- 
cury  [for  we  have  a  warning  of  the  consequences 
of  the  blind  leading  the  blind],  for  it  is  not  for  him. 
But  he  who  earnestly  thirsteth  after  the  knowl- 
edge of  Nature,  and  is  well  experienced  in  chemis- 
try [meaning  the  knowledge  of  man],  may  take 
mercury  in  hand.  What  I  mention,  seek  therein ; 
all  is  in  it,  [Know  Thyself,]  and  if  thou  rightly 
goest  about  it,  thou  shalt  experimentally  find  that 
which  I  have  met  with:  then  shalt  thou  see  that 
I  have  written  this  Treatise,  not  out  of  hate  or 
envy,  but  from  a  true  heart,  and  for  the  lovers  of 
truth  ;  not  according  to  my  fancy  and  speculations, 
but  from  perfect  experience,  which  time,  accordino- 
to  God's  will,  hath  manifested  to  me." 

Who  can  imagine  that  this  style  of  writing  was 
used  by  a  seeker  after  earthly  riches  ?  The  author 
may  be  called  a  deluded  fool,  but  no  man  in  his 
senses  can  read  this  very  grave  little  volume  of 
Van  Suchten's,  and  suppose  that  the  writer  was 
thinking  of  perishable  treasures. 


104  ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS. 

It  is  remarkable  that  all  of  the  Alchemists  de- 
nounce mere  money-seekers.  They  promise  the 
sons  of  Art  riches  indeed,  but  they  are  the  "  riches 
of  the  wisdom  and  knowledge  of  God."  I  admit, 
of  course,  that  multitudes  of  the  selfish  and  igno- 
rant were  led  by  their  promises,  literally  understood, 
to  seek  among  real  metals  for  an  agent  for  turning 
common  metals  into  gold,  and  this  class  of  men 
may  unconsciously  have  prepared  the  way  for  mod- 
ern chemistry  ;  but  it  is  not  just  to  omit  all  notice 
of  the  genuine  Alchemists,  and  affix  to  their  Art 
the  odium  which  only  belongs  to  a  class  of  people 
called  "  ignorant  sots "  by  the  Alchemists  them- 
selves. We  have  seen  what  Van  Suchten  says  of 
those  who  were  duped,  or  attempted  to  deceive 
others.     Here  is  a  passage  from  Eyrenaeus  :  — 

"  Since,  then,  this  know^ledge  is  so  wonderful, 
being  the  very  Looking-glass  of  Nature^  the  anti 
dote  against  poverty  and  sickness,  and  consequent- 
ly the  cut-throat  of  covetousness,  pride,  ambition 
and  such  like  sordid  affections,  who  would  not  be 
stow  a  little  time  in  the  inquiry  of  it  ?  In  which 
let  me  assure  thee,  in  the  very  words  of  Trevisan 
the  Art  is  so  plain,  that,  if  it  were  nakedly  described, 
it  would  seem  to  he  contemptible;  and  yet  in  me 
chanical  arts  how  frequent  is  it  for  men  to   serve 


ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS.  105 

seven,  eight,  yea,  ten  years'  apprenticeship  to  at- 
tain them  ?  And  in  some  that  are  a  little  more 
ingenious,  how  frequently  are  considerable  sums 
of  money  bestowed  to  boot ;  yet  in  this  noble 
Art,  excelling  all  human  sciences,  as  the  sun 
doth  a  candle,  who  will  employ  himself  with 
diligence?  unless  it  be  some  money-minded  sots, 
who  seek  only  for  riches ;  and  yet  even  they 
are  soon  weary.  So  that  few  or  none  persist 
in  the  inquiry,  save  a  few  roguish  sophists  who 
live  by  cozening ;  by  reason  of  ivhom  the  Art  is 
scandalized)  and  ill  spoken  of.  Yet  trust  me,  for 
I  speak  knowingly,  the  Art  is  both  true  and 
easy;  yea,  so  easy,  that,  if  you  were  to  see  the 
experiment,  you  would  hardly  believe  it." 

M.  Figuier  speaks  of  the  causes  of  the  over- 
throw of  Alchemy,  and,  curiously  enough,  cites 
among  others  the  labors  of  Otto  Tachenius, 
giving  him  great  credit  therefor.  The  work  of 
Tachenius  is  in  two  parts,  the  first,  the  Hoppo- 
crates  chymicus^  was  written  against  false  Al- 
chemists, and  was  intended  to  turn  from  the 
study  all  hasty  and  immature  wits;  but  the 
Clavis  annexed  to  it,  as  the  second  part,  is  a 
genuine  alchemical  work,  and  even  the  first  part 
is  strewed  with  Hermetic  philosophy,  purposely 
made  impenetrable  to  dunces. 


106  ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS. 

The  celebrated  Robert  Boyle  wrote  a  book 
ostensibly  against  certain  supposed  principles  of 
the  Alchemists ;  but  he  took  care  to  approve  j ., 
and  recommend,  and  even  to  explain  and  defend,  \\ 
mystically,  —  in  their  own  jargon,  —  what  he  dis-  \i 
tinguished  as  their  practical  work.  The  truth  is,  ',\ 
that  some,  losing  sight  of  the  legitimate  "  Work," 
ambitiously  sought  to  explain  the  Universe,  and 
this,  too,  in  a  more  or  less  mechanical  sense. 
To  this  class  of  writers  Mr.  Boyle  took  just 
exception ;  but  he  stops  far  short  of  a  condem- 
nation of  Alchemy. 

A   most    remarkable    Essay   touching   this    sub- 
ject  may   be    seen    in    Bishop    Berkeley's    Iris,    or   t 
Essay  on  Tar  Water.     Bishop  Berkeley  well  knew  I 
the  real  object  of  the  Alchemists,  and  had  some-   j 
thing    more    than    sympathy   for    it,    as    any    one   \i 
may    see  who  will   understandingly   read   his   Es- 
say on   Tar  Water:    Tar  Water  indeed! 

Readers  of  metaphysical  \\Titings  will  recollect 
that  Father  Malebranche  would  have  us  "  see  all 
things  in  God,"  while  Bishop  Berkeley  would 
have  us  recognize  the  Spirit  of  God  in  all  things. 
Is  the  Spirit  of  God  anything  but  God?  What 
essential  difference  is  there  between  these  doc- 
trines?    To    say   that   we    see   God  in   all  things. 


ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS.  107 

or  all  things  in  God,  is  to  say  the  same  thing, 
provided  these  expressions  have  any  meaning  at 
all,  and  are  not  a  mere  form  of  words. 

M.  Figuier  and  the  Reviewer  make  merry  with 
the  word  Alcahest^  or  the  universal  dissolvent^ 
"  sought  by  all  the  experimentalists."  "  Of  course," 
says  the  Reviewer,  "  many  proclaimed  that  they 
had  found  it,  until  Kunkel  scattered  the  whole 
fabric  of  pretension  by  a  single  phrase :  '  What 
kind  of  vessel,'  he  asked,  '  contains  this  universal 
dissolvent  ?  '  "  M.  Figuier  notices  the  derivation 
of  the  word  in  the  -German,  al-geist  (all- Spirit), 
but  does  not  profit  by  it,  and  yet  this  amaz- 
ingly obtuse-witted  man  has  published  what  he 
calls  an  historical  and  critical  Essay  upon  Her- 
metical  Philosophy ! 

Bishop  Berkeley  knew  very  well  what  Alcahest 
meant  in  the  writings  of  the  Alchemists,  and 
was  far  enough  from  denying  the  Spirit  of  God 
because  no  human  vessel  can  be  made  to  con- 
tain it,  well  seeing,  nevertheless,  that  it  is  con- 
tained in  all  things.  The  Alchemists  knew  that 
it  could  not  be  contained,  or  rather  confined,  in 
a  formula  of  words,  and  held  up  for  the  curios- 
ity of  the  idle,  much  less  for  the  profane ;  yet 
to  the  properly  prepared  and  purified  soul  it  is 
the  most  apparent  thing  in  the  universe. 


108        ALCHEMY  AND  THE  ALCHEMISTS. 

Who  shows  the  most  reverence  for  God, — 
he  who  parades  the  name  before  his  readers  as 
he  would  that  of  a  familiar  acquaintance,  or  he 
w^ho  throws  a  veil  over  what  he  hopes  he  may 
not  be  mistaken  in  as  a  result  of  whole  years 
of  meditation  upon  his  sacred  name  ? 

Let  any  one  read  the  qualifications  set  out  by 
Basil  Valentine  as  necessary  in  him  who  would 
understand  anything  of  A^itimony^  and  consider  to 
what  they  really  point.  There  is  something  in  the 
very  title  of  his  work,  "  The  Triumphal  Chariot 
of  Antimony,"  which  may  remind  us  of  the 
Chariot  of  Fire  in  the  Book  of  Kings. 

According  to  Basilius  it  is  necessary,  as  a  prep- 
aration for  the  study  of  Antimony,  to  make, — 

"  1st.  Invocation  to  God,  with  a  certain  heav- 
enly intention,  drawn  from  the  bottom  of  a  pure 
and  sincere  heart  and  conscience,  pure  from  all  am- 
bition, hypocrisy,  and  all  other  vices  which  have 
any  affinity  with  these ;  as  arrogance,  boldness, 
pride,  luxury,  petulancy,  oppression  of  the  poor, 
and  other  similar  evils,  all  of  which  are  to  be 
eradicated  from  the  heart;  that  when  a  man  de- 
sires to  prostrate  himself  before  the  throne  of  j  : 
grace,  for  obtaining  health,  he  may  do  so  with  \  \ 
a    conscience    free    from    all    unprofitable    weeds,    i 


ALCHEMY  AND  THE  ALCHEMISTS.        109 

that  his  hodij  maij  he  transmuted  into  a  holy 
temple  of  God,  and  be  purged  from  all  unclean- 
ness.  For  God  will  not  be  mocked,  (of  which  I 
would  earnestly  admonish  all,)  as  worldly  men, 
pleasing  and  flattering  themselves  with  their  own 
wisdom,  think.  God,  I  say,  will  not  be  mocked, 
but  the  Creator  of  all  things  will  be  invoked 
with  reverential  fear ;  and  acknowledged  with  due 

obedience Which    is    so   very   true,   that    I 

am  certainly  assured  no  impious  man  shall  ever 
be  partaker  of  the  true  medicine^  much  less  of 
the  eternal  heavenly  bread.  Therefore  place  your 
whole  intention  and  trust  in  God;  call  upon  him 
and  pray  that  he  may  impart  his  blessing  to 
you.  Let  this  be  the  beginning  of  your  work, 
that  by  the  same  you  may  obtain  your  desired 
end,  and  at  length  effect  Vv^hat  you  intended. 
For  the  fear  of  the  Lord  is  the  beg-inning'  of 
wisdom.^'' 

After  a  whole  page  more  to  the  same  pur- 
pose, Basil  comes  to  the  second  qualification, 
which  he  calls  Contemplation,  by  which,  says  he, 
"  I  understand  an  accurate  attention  to  the  busi- 
ness itself,  under  which  will  fall  these  consider- 
ations, first  to  be  noted.  As,  what  are  the  cir- 
cumstances  of  anything;   what  the  matter;   what 

10 


110        ALCHEMY  AND  THE  ALCHEMISTS. 

the  form ;  whence  its  operations  proceed ;  whence 
it  is  infused  and  implanted ;  how  generated " ;  etc., 
etc. ;  "  also  how  the  body  of  everything  may  be 
dissolved,  that  is,  resolved  into  the  first  matter^  or 
first  essence  (of  which  I  have  already  made  men- 
tion in  other  parts  of  my  writings),  viz.  how  the 
last  matter  may  be  changed  into  the  first,  and  the 
first  into  the  last.  This  contemplation,"  continues 
Basil,  "is  celestial,  and  to  be  understood  with 
spiritual  reason ;  for  the  circumstances  and  depth 
of  things  cannot  be  perceived  in  any  other  way 
than  by  the  spiritual  cogitation  of  man :  and  this 
contemplation  is  twofold.  One  is  called  possible, 
the  other  impossible.  The  latter  consists  in  copi- 
ous cogitations,  which  never  proceed  to  effects, 
nor  exhibit  any  form  of  matter  that  falls  under 
the  touch :  as,  if  any  one  should  endeavor  to  com- 
prehend the  Eternity  of  the  Most  High ;  which  is 
vain  and  impossible ;  yea,  it  is  a  sin  agaiuvst  the 
Holy  Spirit,  so  arrogantly  to  pry  into  the  Divinity 
itself,  which  is  immense,  infinite,  and  eternal ;  and 
to  subject  the  incomprehensible  counsel  of  the 
secrets  of  God  to  human  inquisition.  The  other 
part  of  Contemplation^  which  is  possible,  is  called 
Theory.  This  contemplates  that^  which  is  per- 
ceived  by   Touch  and   Sight,   and   hath    a   nature 


ALCHEMY  AND  THE  ALCHEMISTS.         Ill 

formed  in  Time :  this  considers,  how  that  nature 
may  be  helped  and  perfected  by  resolution  of  itself; 
how  every  body  may  give  forth  from  itself  the 
good  or  evil,  venom  or  medicine,  latent  in  it;  how 
destruction  and  confraction  [to  be  cleft  or  opened] 
are  to  be  handled,  whereby  under  a  right  pro- 
ceeding, without  sophistical  deceits,  the  pure  may 
be  severed   and  separated  from  the  impure." 

I  must  remind  the  reader  to  consider  what  Hol- 
landus  says  of  cleansing  Saturn,  and  of  what  Van 
Suchten  says  of  purifying  Antimony  ;  indeed,  all 
of  these  writers  hold  but  one  language  on  this 
point,  no  matter  what  name  they  select  for  their 
matter,  which  everywhere,  in  all  of  the  books,  I 
say  is  Man,  who  is  the  subject  of  all  this  inquiry, 
all  this  labor,  all  this  talk  about  the  Philosopher's 
Stone.  As  a  sample  of  what  Basil  says  of  the 
qualifications  deemed  important  in  a  student  of 
Antimony,  I  will  cite  the  remainder  of  what  he 
says  under  this  head. 

"  This  Separation  is  instituted  and  made  by 
divers  mianual  operations,  and  various  ways ;  some 
of  which  are  vulgarly  known  by  experience,  others 
remote  from  vulgar  experience.  These  are  calci- 
nation, sublimation,  reverberation,  circulation,  pu- 
trefaction,  digestion,    distillation,   cohobation,  fixa- 


112        ALCHEMY  AND  THE  ALCHEMISTS. 

tion,  and  the  like  of  these;  all  the  degrees  of  which 
are  found  in  operating,  learned,  and  perceived,  and 
manifested  by  the   same." 

To  caution  the  reader  that  some  of  these  oper- 
ations, though  most  real,  are  nevertheless  invisible, 
and  not  the  work  of  the  hands,  I  would  remind 
him  to  reflect  upon  what  is  said  of  a  certain  some- 
thing which  is  sharper  than  any  two-edged  sword, 
piercing  even  to  the  dividing  asunder  of  soul  and 
spirit,  and  of  the  joints  and  marrow,  and  is  a  dis- 
cerner  of  the  thoughts  and  intent  of  the  heart. 

"  Whence  will  clearly  appear,"  continues  Basil, 
"what  is  movable  [transient],  what  is  fixed  [per- 
manent], what  is  white,  red,  black,  blue,  or  green, 
viz.  when  the  operation  is  rightly  instituted  by 
the  artificer ;  for  possibly  the  operator  may  err, 
and  turn  aside  from  the  right  way ;  but  that  Na- 
ture  should  err^  when  rightly  handled,  is  not  possi' 
hle.^^  I  place  this  passage  in  italics,  for  I  would 
have  it  noticed.  "Therefore,"  says  Basil,  "if  you 
shall  err,  so  that  nature  cannot  be  altogether  free, 
and  released  from  the  body,  in  which  it  is  held 
captive,  return  again  unto  your  way ;  learn  the 
theory  more  perfectly,  and  inquire  more  accurately 
into  the  method  of  your  operating,  that  you  may 
discover  the  foundation  and  certainty  in  the  sepa- 


ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS.  113 

ration  of  all  things  ;  which  is  a  matter  of  great 
concern.  And  this  is  the  second  foundation  of 
philosophy,  which  follows  prayer ;  for  in  that  the 
sum  of  the  matter  lies,  and  is  contained  in  these 
words :  Seek  first  the  kingdom  of  God  and  his 
righteousness  by  prayer,  and  all  other  things  shall 
be  added  unto  you." 

To  show  that  Basil  Valentine  was  not  alone  in 
thus  denouncing  the  sort  of  preparation  necessary 
for  success  in  this  study,  I  will  recite  a  few  of 
the   Canons  of  Espagnet,  viz. :  — 

"  The  light  of  this  knowlege  is  the  gift  of  God, 
which  by  his  freeness  he  bestoweth  upon  whom 
he  pleaseth.  [The  reader  will  remember  the  verse 
from  John  iii.  8.]  Let  none,  therefore,  set  himself 
to  the  study  hereof,  until,  having  cleared  and  puri- 
fied his  heart,  he  devote  himself  wholly  unto  God, 
and  be  emptied  of  all  affection  to  things  impure." 

"  Those  that  are  in  public  honors  and  offices,  or 
be  always  busied  with  private  and  necessary  occu- 
pations, let  them  not  strive  to  attain  to  the  top  of 
this  philosophy ;  for  it  requireth  the  whole  man ; 
and  being  found,  possesseth  him,  and  being  pos- 
sessed, challengeth  him  from  all  long  and  serious 
employments,  esteeming  all  other  things  as  strange 
unto  him,   and    of  no   value."     This   language,  it 

10* 


114 


ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS. 


is  true,  is  not  quite  so  strong  as  that  in  Phil, 
iii.  8. 

"  Let  him  that  is  desirous  of  this  knowledge 
clear  his  mind  from  all  evil  motions,  especially 
pride,  which  is  abomination  to  heaven,  and  the 
gate  of  hell.  Let  him  be  frequent  at  prayers,  and 
charitable;  have  little  to  do  with  the  world;  ab- 
stain from  too  much  company  keeping,  and  en- 
joy constant  tranquillity,  that  the  mind  may  be 
able  to  reason  more  freely  in  private,  and  be  more 
highly  lifted  up ;  for  unless  it  be  kindled  with  a 
beam  of  divine  light,  it  will  hardly  be  able  to  pen- 
etrate the  hidden  mysteries  of  truth." 

"  A  studious  Tyro  of  a  quick  wdt,  constant  mind, 
inflamed  with  the  love  of  philosophy,  very  skilful 
in  natural  philosophy,  of  a  pure  heart,  perfect  in 
manners,  mightily  devoted  to  God,  —  even  though 
ignorant  of  practical  chemistry,  —  may  with  confi- 
dence enter  the  highway  of  Nature,  and  peruse  the 
books  of  the  best  philosophers.  Let  him  seek  out 
an  ingenious  [and  ingenuous]  companion  for  him- 
self, and  not  despair  of  accomplishing  his  desire." 

It  will  be  seen  here,  that  for  success  in  this  study 
a  knowledge  of  practical  chemistry  is  not  deemed 
indispensable.     The  reason  is,  that  the   subject  is 


ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS.  115 

Man^  and  a  chief  instrument  in  the  work  is  medi- 
taiion.  It  is  not  a  work  of  the  hands.  Pontanus, 
a  great  name  among  the  Alchemists,  says  he 
discovered  the  true  Fire,  after  reading  Artephius, 
by  a  "  profound  meditation,"  and  affirms  that  it 
cannot  be  discovered  in  any  other  way. 

"  Let  a  Lover  of  Truth,"  continues  Espagnet, 
"  make  use  of  but  a  few  authors,  but  of  best  note 
and  experienced  truth ;  let  him  suspect  things  that 
are  quickly  understood,  especially  in  mystical  names 
and  secret  operations ;  for  truth  lies  hid  in  obscu- 
rity; nor  do  philosophers  ever  write  more  deceit- 
fully than  when  plainly,  nor  ever  more  truly  than 
when  obscurely." 

Espagnet  then  recommends  the  works  of  Hermes, 
Morienus  Romanus,  Count  Trevisan,  and  Raymond 
Lully ;  to  which  I  would  by  all  means  add  his  own 
little  book  entitled  Arcanum,  or  the  Grand  Secret  of 
Hermetical  Philosophy.  He  adds,  in  recommenda- 
tion of  Sandivogius :  "  As  for  that  clear  water 
sought  for  by  many,  found  out  by  few,  yet  obvi- 
ous and  profitable  unto  all,  which  is  the  base  of 
the  philosopher's  work,  a  noble  Polonian,  not  more 
famous  for  his  learning  than  subtlety  of  wit, 
(anonymous,  whose  name,  nevertheless,  a  double 
anagram    hath    betrayed,)    in    his    Novum    Lumen 


116        ALCHEMY  AND  THE  ALCHEMISTS. 

I 

Chemicinn,  Parabola,  and  Enigma^  as    also  in  his      j 
Tract  of  Sulphur,  hath    spoken   largely  and    freely      | 
enough  ;  yea,  he  hath  expressed  all  things  concern- 
ing it  so  plainly,  that  nothing  can    be  satisfactory      | 
to  him  that  desireth  more."  I 

The  reader  has  now  before  him,  at  what  I  fear 
he  may   consider  a   tedious    length,   extracts    from 
Isaac   HoUandus,    Artephius,   Van    Sachten,    Basil 
Valentine,  and  Espagnet,  all  well-known  names  of 
Alchemists,  three  of  them  especially  referred  to  by 
the  Reviewer  as  in  pursuit  of  an  agent  for  trans-      . 
muting  common  metals  into  gold,  and  can  hardly      | 
fail  to  see  one  pervading  doctrine,  explicable  only 
by  a  due  knowledge  of  the  nature  of  man.     I  might 
easily   add  extracts  from   the  works   of  more  than 
a   hundred   other  writers  if  it  were  necessary,  and     ! 
show,  by  slight  explanatory  notes,  that  every  genu- 
ine Alchemist  wrote  only  of  Man.     This  is  the  class     I 
of  men  overlooked  by  the  historian,  who  has  fas- 
tened upon  the  weak  and  ignorant,  or  upon  "  im-     i 
postors   and    mountebanks,"    as   if  these  were   the 
originators  of  Alchemy,  when,  so  far  from  belong- 
ing to  the  class  of  those  who  entered  into  or  sought 
to   enter  into   the  new  birth,  they  properly  belong 
to  that  production  known  among  midwives  as  the 
placenta. 


ALCHEMY  AND  THE  ALCHEMISTS.        117 

That  chemistry  is  indirectly  indebted  to  the  Al- 
chemists for  its  introduction  among  the  sciences, 
is  certainly  true  ;  at  least,  I  have  no  disposition 
to  question  it ;  but  not  to  the  immediate  labors 
of  the  Alchemists  themselves,  whose  peculiar  work 
was  one  of  contemplation,  and  not  a  work  of  the 
hands.  Their  alembic,  furnace,  cucurbit,  retort, 
philosophical  egg,  etc.,  etc.,  in  which  the  work  of 
fermentation,  distillation,  extraction  of  essences  and 
spirits,  and  the  preparation  of  salts  is  said  to  have 
taken  place,  was  Man,  —  yourself,  friendly  reader, 
and  if  you  will  take  yourself  into  your  own  study, 
and  be  candid  and  honest,  acknowledging  no  other 
guide  or  authority  but  Truth,  you  may  easily  dis- 
cover something  of  Hermetic  Philosophy ;  and  if 
at  the  beginning  there  should  be  "  fear  and  trem- 
bling," the  end  may  be  a  more  than  compensating 
peace. 

It  is  a  plain  case,  that,  for  the  most  part,  the 
experiments  which  led  the  way  to  chemistry  were 
made  by  men  who  were  misled  by  the  language 
of  the  Alchemists,  and  sought  gold  instead  of 
truth ;  but  this  class  of  men  wrote  no  books  upon 
Alchemy.  Many  of  them  no  doubt  died  over  their 
furnaces,  ^^  uttering'  no  voice,^^  and  none  of  them 
wrote  books  upon  the  Philosopher's  Stone,  for  the 


118        ALCHEMY  AND  THE  ALCHEMISTS. 

simple  reason  that  they  never  discovered  anything 
to  write  about,  and  were  incapable  of  indicating 
in  the  remotest  manner  any  method  for  its  discov- 
ery. I  know  that  some  impostors  purposely  wrote 
of  mysteries  to  play  upon  the  credulity  of  the 
ignorant;  but  their  works  have  nothing  alchem- 
ical about  them.  It  is  true,  also,  that  many  books 
were  written  by  men  who  really  imagined  they 
had  discovered  the  secret,  and  were  nevertheless 
mistaken.  But  this  imaginary  success  could  never 
have  had  place  where  gold  was  the  object ;  be- 
cause in  the  hakl  fact  no  man  was  ever  deceived : 
no  man  ever  believed  that  he  had  discovered  a 
method  of  making  gold  out  of  inferior  metals. 
The  thing  speaks  for  itself.  It  is  impossible  that 
any  man  can  ever  be  deluded  upon  this  bare  fact; 
but  it  is  quite  otherwise  with  respect  to  the  real 
object  of  Alchemy,  in  which  men  have  been  de- 
ceived in  all  ages,  either  under  the  name  of  Al-  ij 
chemy,  or  under  some  other  name;  —  for  the  sub- 
ject is  always  in  the  world,  and  hence  the  antiquity 
claimed  for  the  art  by  the  Alchemists.  Upon  this 
subject,  and  I  admit,  under  the  name  of  Alchemy, 
many  mistaken  men  have  written  large  volumes, 
for  I  have  some  of  them  ;  and  to  a  novice  these 
works   are   among  the   obstacles  in   the  study,  for 


ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS.  119 

until   some   skill   is  obtained,   the   student   has    no 
rule  for  separating  the  chaff  from  the  wheat. 

To  a  man  who  cannot  read  at  all,  all  books  are 
aUke;  and  to  one  w^ho  reads  in  but  one  language, 
by  much  the  greater  part  of  the  books  in  the 
world  are  incomprehensible ;  while  of  the  books 
J!  in  the  language  one  reads,  those  only  come  within 
!l  hi^  comprehension  up  to  near  the  level  of  which 
he  has  risen  by  cultivation,  study,  and  research. 
D'Alembert  congratulated  himself  that  his  works 
on  Mathematics  could  not  be  criticised  by  fools. 

The  Reviewer  gives  the  opinion,  that  the  relig- 
ious language  found  in  books  of  Alchemy  v/as 
not  in  use  among  the  Arabs  who  sought  the  Phi- 
losopher's Stone,  but  was  introduced  by  Christians 
after  the  subject  was  transferred  to  Christendom  ; 
when,  he  says,  religious  inspiration  was  believed 
to  be  necessary  for  the  discovery  of  the  agent  for 
transmuting  metals ;  the  Reviewer  still  being  under 
the  impression  that  gold  was  the  object.  He  says 
that  this  religions  language  is  all  that  gives  "  a 
sort  of  pretext"  to    the  views  in   my  pamphlet. 

If  the  writer  of  the  article  in  the  Westminster 
Review  should  by  any  chance  ever  fall  in  with 
this  defence  of  the  Alchemists,  not  of  myself,  I 
beg  him  to  believe  that  I  do  not  tax  him  with  an 


120        ALCHEMY  AND  THE  ALCHEMISTS. 

inability  to  perceive  his  error,  if  he  would  con- 
sult the  works  of  the  Alchemists.  My  only  sur- 
prise is  that  he  should  have  ventured  upon  the 
subject  so  illy  prepared  for  it.  If  he  will  look 
into  the  writings  of  Geber  the  Arabian,  his  eye 
may  chance  to  fall  upon  such  passages  as  the  fol- 
lowing :  — 

"  We  have  described  it  [the  Stone]  in  such  a 
way  of  speaking,  as  is  agreeable  to  the  will  of  the 
Most  High,  Blessed,  Sublime,  and  Glorious  God, 
and  our  own  mind.  We  have  written  the  same, 
as  it  happened  to  be  recollected,  or  as  it  was  in- 
fused by  the  grace  of  his  Divine  goodness^  ivho 
gives  it  to,  and  ivithholds  it  from,  ivliom  he 
wilL'^ 

And  again :  "  The  Artist  should  be  intent  on 
the  true  End  only,  because  our  Art  is  reserved  in 
the  Divine  Wilt  of  God,  and  is  given  to,  or  with- 
held from,  whom  he  will;  who  is  glorious,  sub- 
lime, and  full  of  justice  and  goodness." 

It  will  be  difficult  to  discover  in  this  language 
any  other  than  the  religious  spirit  which  the  Re- 
viewer thinks  was  introduced  after  the  subject  had 
been  transferred  into  Christendom. 

The  Reviewer  also  says  that  the  Arabians  never 
thought  of  the  Philosopher's   Stone  as  a  cure  for 


ALCHEMY  AND  THE  ALCHEMISTS.        121 

diseases;  and  yet  the  same  Geber  speaks  of  it  as 
a  "medicine,  rejoicing  and  preserving  the  Body  in 
youth." 

This  is  alchemical  language  for  expressing  im- 
mortality, and  if  any  one  wishes  to  speak  of  this 
under  the  rose,  how  can  it  be  better  represented 
than  as  perpetual  youth? 

Geber  further  gives  the  student  this  instruction : 
"Dispose  yourself  by  exercise  to  the  study  with 
great  industry  and  labor,  and  a  continued  deep 
meditation;  for  by  these  you  may  find  it,  and  not 
otherwise.''^ 

What  can  meditation  do  with  actual  metals  ? 
It  cannot  blow  the  coals  under  an  alembic ;  but 
it  may  bring  a  man  into  a  right  state  for  hearing 
the  still,  smciU  voice,  whose  potency,  like  that  of 
the  Alcahesi,-  --{or  it  is  the  Alcahest,  —  is  able  to 
dissolve  the  stoniest  hearts. 

Again,  Geber  says :  —  "If  we  have  concealed 
anything,  [meaning  by  enigmatical  writing,]  ye 
sons  of  learning,  wonder  not,  for  we  have  not 
concealed  it  from  you,  but  have  delivered  it  in 
such  language  as  that  it  may  be  hid  from  evil 
men,  and  that  the  unjust  and  vile  might  not  know 
it.  But,  ye  sons  of  Truth,  search,  and  you  shall 
find  this  mo  t  excellent  gift  of  God,  which  he  has 
11 


122        ALCHEMY  AND  THE  ALCHEMISTS. 

reserved  for  you " ;  —  as  if  he  had  expressly  the 
language  of  Scripture  in  view,  —  "Seek,  and  ye 
shall  find ;  knock,  and  it  shall  be  opened  unto  you." 
But  he  adds  :  — 

"  Ye  sons  of  folly,  impiety,  and  profanity,  avoid 
you  the  seeking  after  this  knowledge ;  it  will  be 
destructive  to  you,  and  precipitate  you  into  con- 
tempt and  misery.  This  gift  of  God  is  absolutely, 
by  the  judgment  of  the  Divine  Providence,  hid 
from  you,  and  denied  you  for  ever. 

"  Perhaps  for  the  punishment  of  your  sophisti- 
cal work,  God  denies  you  the  Art,  and  lamentably 
thrusts  you  into  the  by-path  of  error,  and  from 
your  error  into  perpetual  infelicity  and  wretched- 
ness ;  for  he  is  most  miserable  and  unhappy,  to 
whom,  after  the  end  of  his  work  and  labor,  God 
denies  the  sight  of  Truth.  For  such  a  man  is 
doomed  to  perpetual  labor,  beset  with  misfortune 
and  infelicity,  loseth  the  consolation,  joy,  and  de- 
light of  his  life,  and  consumes  his  whole  time  in 
grief  without  profit." 

Who  can  read  such  language,  and  suppose  that 
the  author  was  thinking  of  gold?  He  was  not! 
He  was  writing  of  the  Truth :  and  this  is  Geher 
the  Arabian. 


ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS.  123 

The  Reviewer  is  not  less  unfortunate  in  his  ref- 
erence to  George  Ripley,  a  monk  of  the  fifteenth 
century.  Ripley's  Compound  of  Alchemy^  only  one 
of  many  works  by  him  on  the  same  subject,  be- 
came a  text-book  for  the  Alchemists,  who  contin- 
ually refer  to  it  with  eulogy.  It  would  be  tedious, 
or,  by  a  few  extracts,  it  might  be  easily  shown 
that  Ripley  wrote  only  of  man,  and  never  dreamed 
of  making  gold  in  any  other  sense  than  that  of 
making  goodness. 

The  Reviewer  thinks  that  Ripley  publicly  re- 
canted his  errors  in  Alchemy,  and  endeavored  to 
dissuade  others  from  falling  into  similar  errors. 
This  story  evidently  arose  from  the  urgent  dissua- 
sives  against  false  Alchemy,  contained  in  some 
of  his  works,  where  he  warns  every  one  against 
endeavors  to  discover  the  secret  by  working  in 
common  metals  and  minerals,  enumerating  in  his 
compound  of  Alchemy  a  whole  page  full  of  things 
in  which  the  secret  cannot  be  found  ;  —  because, 
in  short,  it  is  not  a  work  of  the  hands  at  all,  but 
the  product  of  a  certain  divine  contemplation,  pro- 
ductive rather  of  a  state  of  being  than  one  of 
mere  knoiving^  or  of  knowing  as  a  consequence 
of  being  in  a  particular  state. 

Many  of  the  writers,  especially  Pontanus,  Eyre- 


124        ALCHEMY  AND  THE  ALCHEMISTS. 

nsBUS,  and  Espagnet,  as  also  Ripley,  just  named, 
warn  their  readers  not  to  lose  their  time,  money, 
and  labor  in  working  with  common  metals ;  — 
which  may  be  taken  very  literally,  or  it  may  be 
construed  as  applying  to  a  certain  class  of  com- 
mon men  who  either  cannot  or  will  not  receive 
instruction.  But  these  warnings  were  thrown 
away  upon  a  multitude  of  self-seekers,  who  de- 
sired not  the  kingdom  of  God,  but  were  intent 
upon  earthly  riches. 

Since  my  curiosity  was  awakened  on  this  sub- 
ject, I  have  gathered  over  two  hundred  works  on 
Alchemy  and  Hermetic  Philosophy,  judging  by  a 
glance  at  my  book-shelves,  and  I  confess  that  I 
have  read  them  with  the  best  attention  in  my 
power,  and  with  a  continually  increasing  interest. 
If  I  felt  called  upon  to  justify  this  sort  of  reading, 
I  might  refer  to  the  declarations  of  Schelling.  Af- 
ter this  great  German  philosopher  had  exhausted 
all  sorts  of  recognized  treatises  upon  philosophy, 
he  confessed  that  he  found  more  "fulness  and 
great  heart-language"  in  Jacob  Behmen,  than  in 
all  of  them  put  together;  and  Jacob  Behmen  was 
an  Alchemist,  though  very  far  from  among  the 
best  of  them. 


ALCHEMY  AND  THE  ALCHEMISTS.        125 

Bat  no  Alchemist  supports  his  views  by  appeals 
to  authority.  He  would  have  every  doctrine  tested 
by  "  the  possibility  of  nature,"  and  repudiates  the 
practice  of  testing  nature  by  authority.  The  Al- 
chemist settles  no  question  by  an  ipse  dixit,  or 
"  the  master  has  said  it."  He  acknowledges  "  no 
master  but  one,"  unless,  in  the  spirit  of  1  Cor.  xv. 
27,  28,  he  would  have  all  things  brought  to  the 
standard  of  truth,  but  truth  must  be  submitted 
to  God,  who  is  All  in  All. 

I  have  endeavored,  as  the  reader  will  please  no- 
tice, to  point  out  chiefly  the  base,  or  introduction 
to  Alchemy ;  and  have  not  been  disposed  to  say 
much  of  the  end,  which,  it  is  easy  to  see,  must  be 
developed  in  the  experience  of  those  who  put  them- 
selves in  a  condition  for  it.  If  any  man  would 
realize  the  blessings  of  goodness,  he  must  become 
good;  or  if  he  would  enjoy  the  advantages  of 
truth,  he  must  be  true.  There  is  no  mystery  in 
this,  and  yet  this  is  good  Alchemy,  so  far  as  it 
goes. 

It  is  contended  that  the  real  doctrine  of  the  Al- 
chemists lies  within  the  field  of  human  nature. 
They  find  their   principles   in    the   common  life  of 

man,  and   acknowledge   that   ''  many   honest   men 
11* 


126        ALCHEMY  AND  THE  ALCHEMISTS. 

of  good  consciences  and  affections  do  secretly  en- 
joy this  gift  of  God."  The  chief  peculiarity  about  |'; 
it  is,  that  it  takes  up  some  of  the  most  univer-  ; ' 
sally  experienced  instincts  of  man,  relating  to  every-  •  \ 
day  duties,  such  as  many  honest  men  practise  un-  j 
^consciously,  and  erects  them  into  a  doctrine  of  i 
life,  and  finds  Sanctions  in  the  reality  of  the  in-  | 
stincts  and  experiences,  without  building  upon  any  ■  j 
mere  passion  whatever. 

I  admit,  however,  that  there  are  references  to  '■  i 
mysteries  in  the  writings  of  the  Alchemists,  about  i  i 
which  I  have  no  wish  to  speak  at  length.  Some  j  > 
of  the  writers,  for  example,  say  that  no  true  phi-  j  i 
losopher,  ivho  knew  it,  has  ever  named,  or  will  ever  U 
name,  what  they  call  the  Fi7'st  Matter,  —  as  if  this  j  \ 
^vas  not  a  name!  \\ 

When  I  say  that  Man  is  the  subject  upon  which  i 
the  Alchemists  employ  themselves,  I  do  not  mean 
to  say  that  the  phenomenal  Man  is  what  they  call 
the  First  Matter.  This  w^ord,  I  presume,  expresses 
■a  conception  which  cannot  be  put  into  descriptive  \\ 
language  without  compromising  to  some  extent  i  i 
the  feelings  of  awe  with  which  the  Supreme  Be-  5 
ing  should  ever  be  contemplated,  and  I  am  there-  *  i 
fore  disposed  to  think,  on  this  account  as  well  as  { 
for  some  other  reasons,  that,  whether  there  is  or  is     'i 


i 


ALCHEMY  AND  THE  ALCHEMISTS.        127 

not  a  Hermetic  Philosophy  hij  name  still  in  the 
world,  the  Art,  or  whatever  it  may  be  called,  will 
always  remain  among  men.  Perhaps  the  answ^er 
to  the  question,  "  Tell  me  thy  Name  ? "  will  always 
reduce  to  silence  him  who  receives  it,  though  this 
may  remain  for  ever  the  one  question  which  "  lies 
at  the  bottom  of  every  human  heart." 

Although  it  is  said  that  the  pure  in  heart  shall 
see  God,  there  is  a  sense,  no  doubt,  in  which  it  is 
true  that  no  man  can  see  God  and  live.  There  is 
no  one  of  our  senses  more  adapted  to  metaphorical 
use  than  that  of  sight;  and,  assuredly,  when  men 
"see  into  the  life  of  things,"  they  do  not  use  the 
outward  sense.  Two  of  the  greatest  poets  the  world 
has  seen,  who  saw  most  clearly  into  the  nature 
of  things,  W'cre  blind. 

There  may  be  very  good  reasons  to  justify  the 
Hindoos  in  never  pronouncing  audibly  their  mystic 
word  AU3I,  and  the  same  reasons  explain  w^hy 
they  have  no  image  and  pay  no  worships  directly 
to  Brahm,  though  they  have  altars  to  Brahma, 
Siva,  and  Vishnu,  and  a  multitude  of  other  di- 
•vinities.  We  do  ourselves  wrong,  not  them,  ^vheu 
we  fail  to  recognize  the  reverence  implied  in  this. 

The  Hermetic  Philosophers  claim  a  perfect  har- 


128  ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS. 

mony  with  each  other,  but  this  harmony  is  con- 
fined to  a  few  principles  of  vital  importance  in  their 
doctrine,   which   relate   almost  wholly  to   a   certain 

practice;  —  possibly  a  com.plete  application  of  the  i 

notion   of  duty,  as   explained  by   Kant,  writing  of  ;, 

his  celebrated   "categorical  imperative,"    or   "  apo-  j 

dictic   command";  —  an  unreasoning,  though   not  j 

unreasonable,  obedience  to  an  experienced  imperi-  i 

ous  sense  of  duty,  leaving  the  result  to  God ;  and  |j 

this  I  am  disposed  to  call  the  Way.  !■ 

Now  the  End  is,  perhaps,  the  fruit  of  this  obe-  i 

dience.     The  man,  by  a  steady  preservation  of  the  | 

inward  unity,  being  prepared  alike  for  all  outward  :  i 

events,  may  finally  be  the  subject  of  some  special  \i 

experience  by  which  a  seal  of  confirmation  is  set  j  \ 

upon  what  at  first  was   a  certain   divine  trust  in  [i 

the  ultimate  blessing  of  rectitude.     I  suppose  it  to  f : 

involve  a  peculiar  knowledge  of  the  unity  of  God,  j  j 

with  a  sense  of  participation  in  it;  for,  God  being  \\ 

"  perfect  truth    and   perfect  love,"   it  follows,  with  ;  J 

some  appearance  of  mathematical  certainty,  that  if  i  ' 

a  man  can  enter  into  a  life  of  truth  and  love,  he  !  I 

i 

really  enters  into  the  life  of  God,  and  m.ust  feel,  '  « 

conversely,  that  the  life  of  God  has   entered  into  l 

him.       The   lesser   magnet   becomes    perfectly   ad-  i 

justed,  and  rests  in  the  greater  m.agnct. 


ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS.  129 

In  this  state  men  who  may  never  have  heard  of 
Alchemy,  for  a  life  of  truth  and  goodness  depends 
upon  God  and  not  upon  books,  have  written  vol- 
umes with  the  title.  The  Life  of  God  in  the  Soul  of 
3Ian. 

This  may  be  the  union  of  the  human  and  divine 
so  much  insisted  upon  by  both  philosophers  and 
divines,  and  be  itself,  the  seal  of  salvation.  Allu- 
sions to  this  state  are  everywhere  met  with  in 
sacred  literature,  as  an  example  of  which  I  take 
the  following  from  the  Rev.  John  Norris,  —  writing 
about  1690. 

"  These  supposals,"  says  he,  "  being  premised,  — 
first,  that  that  Truth  which  is  perfective  is  neces- 
sary Truth  ;  then,  secondly,  that  this  necessary 
Truth  is  the  same  with  the  Divine  Ideas;  then, 
thirdly,  that  the  Divine  Nous,  or  Eternal  Wisdom, 
is  intrinsically  with  or  praesential  to  the  Mind ;  then, 
fourthly,  that  we  see  and  understand  all  things 
[that  we  properly  understand]  in  him,  and  that  't  is 
He  that  enlightens  us ;  and  that  lastly,  though  he 
enlightens  all  Fundamentally  and  Potentially,  yet 
this  illumination  is  not  reduced  into  act,  and  made 
effectual,  but  by  the  intervention  of  some  condition 
on  our  parts,  which  is  duly  to  consult  and  apply 
ourselves  to  Him  :  —  from  these  premises,  I  say,  it 


130        ALCHEMY  AND  THE  ALCHEMISTS. 

necessarily  and  evidently  follows,  that  the  right  and 
only  method  of  inquiry  after  that  Truth  vrhich  is 
perfective,  is  to  consult  the  Divine  Nous^  or  Eternal  1^ 
Wisdom.  For  this  is  the  region  of  Truth,  and  here  i  \ 
are  hid  all  the  Treasures  of  Wisdom  and  Knowl-  I..' 
edge.  I  j 

"  This  is  that  great  and  universal  Oracle  lodged  '  : 
in  every  man's  breast,  whereof  the  ancient  Urim  i 
and  Thummim  was  an  expressive  Type  and  Sym-  j  f 
bol.  This  is  Reason ;  this  is  Conscience :  this  is  1 1 
Truth ;  this  is  that  Light  within,  so  darkly  talked  !  <■ 
of  by  some  who  have,  by  their  awkward,  untoward,  '  \ 
and  unskilful  way  of  representing  it,  discredited  one  \\ 
of  the  noblest  theories  in  the  world.  But  the  thing  i  \ 
in  itself,  rightly  understood,  is  true  ;  and  if  any  man  \  \ 
shall  yet  call  it  Quakerism  or  Enthusiasm,  I  shall  jl 
only  make  this  reply  at  present,  that  it  is  such  Qua- 
kerism as  makes  a  good  part  of  St.  John's  Gospel 
and  of  St.  Augustine's  works.  But  to  return  ;  this, 
I  say,  is  that  Divine  Oracle  which  we  all  may  and 
must  consult,  if  we  would  enrich  our  minds  with 
Truth, — that  Truth  which  is  perfective  of  the  un- 
derstanding. And  this  is  the  method  of  being  truly 
wise.  And  this  method  is  no  other  than  what  is 
advised  us  by  the  Divine  Nous^  the  substantial  wis- 
dom of  God  (Prov.  viii.  34)  :  '  Blessed  is  the  man 


ALCHEMY    AXD    THE    ALCHEMISTS.  131 

that  heareth  me,  watching  daily  at  my  gates,  wait- 
ing at  the  posts  of  my  doors' ;  and  again,  says  the 
same  substantial  wisdom  (ch.  ix.  4)  :  '  Whoso  is 
simple  [honest],  let  him  tm-n  in  hither';  and  again 
(John  viii.  12) :  '  I  am  the  light  of  the  world ;  he  that 
follows  me'  (or,  as  the  word  more  properly  signi- 
fies, he  that  consorts  or  keeps  company  with  me) 
'  walketh  not  in  darkness.' 

^'  This,  therefore,  is  the  via  intellig entice^  the  way 
and  method  of  true  knowledge,  —  to  apply  ourselves 
to  the  Divine  Nous^  the  eternal  wisdom  of  God,"  — 
which  Dr.  Norris  had  just  expressed  by  the  word 
conscience. 

This  I  regard  as  good  Alchemy,  v%'ithout  the 
name.  The  application  only  requires  that  it  shall 
be  complete,  thorough,  and  entire,  for  its  practice 
requires  "the  whole  man." 

When  I  turned  to  this  passage,  I  did  not  perceive 
at  first  that  Dr.  Norris  had  spoken  of  the  con- 
science as  the  TVa?/,  —  answering  precisely  to  the 
view  I  have  been  endeavoring  to  present. 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Norris,  it  is  true,  raised  a  storm 
around  his  ears  by  his  tendency  to  Platonism  and 
Quakerism,  though  he  thought  it  good  St.  John- 
ism.  Some  one  took  the  pains  to  write  a  book  to 
ridicule    his   views    of  the   "  ideal   and    intelligible 


132  ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS. 

world,"  and  he  was  called,  as  usual  in  such  cases, 

a  Mystic.     Men  who  live  principally  in  the  sensu-  !-! 

ous  world  can  never  forgive   those  who  take  the  !  ■ 

hint  from  the  melting  of  a  piece  of  ice,  and  think  i  I 

it  possible  that  i 

"  The  cloud-capped  towers,  the  gorgeous  palaces,  '  ! 

The  solemn  temples,  the  great  globe  itself,  1  ' 

Yea,  all  which  it  inherit,  shall  dissolve  "  ;  —  ■ 

and  then,  by  devout  contemplation,  reach  a  con-  ! 
viction  that,  notwithstanding  the  perishable  nature  \\ 
of  all  outward  existences,  there  is  an  invisible,  im-  '  i 
perishable  reality  "prepared  from  the  foundation  \i 
of  the  world  "  for  those  who  properly  prepare  them-  ;  \ 
selves  for  it,  and  that  this  is  the  only  real  reality  ;  i 
in  existence.  j  j 

!i 

But  to  return  to  the  Philosophers  :  —  although  i ; 
{hey  lean  upon  the  conscience  as  the  Way,  or  as  j  . 
the  "  base "  of  the  work,  they  rely  chiefly  upon  i «' 
Love  as  working  the  greatest  of  wonders,  that  of  |  ■ 
a  transformation  of  the  subject  of  it  into  the  object  \  \ 
loved.  We  may  occasionally  meet  with  detached  i  j 
passages  where  special  opinions  are  expressed  I ! 
without  a  systematic  purpose,  which,  nevertheless,  ■  i 
may  easily  be  adjusted  to  the  more  elaborately  \  \ 
stated  doctrine  under  figures  and  allegories.  One  1 1 
of  these  I  find  in  these  words  :  —  i  \ 


ALCHEMY  AND  THE  ALCHEMISTS.        133 

"  I  find  the  nature  of  Divine  Love  to  be  a  per- 
fect unity  and  simplicity.  There  is  nothing  more 
one,  undivided,  simple,  pure,  unmixed,  and  un- 
compounded  than  Love.  You  ivill  ask,  hoiu  this 
can  be  proved?  Very  ivell:  for  this  Love  is  God 
himself  [1  John  iv.  8] :  now  there  is  nothing  more 
essential  to  God  than  Unity  and  Simplicity ;  noth- 
ing more  contrary  to  the  Divine  Nature  than  dual- 
ity, division,  or  composition.  Besides,  it  is  this 
Love  which  gives  unity  and  harmony  to  all  things. 
There  is  no  unity  in  Heaven  nor  on  Earth,  but 
what  is  derived  from  Love,  and  must  acknowledge 
Him  for  its  author;  and  do  you  think  that  Love 
can  want  that  unity  which  it  gives  to  all  others? 
No,  certainly;  rather  conclude,  that  that  which 
makes  all  things  one,  which  harmonizeth  and 
agrees  the  most  different  and  discordant  natures, 
•    must  needs  be  unity  itself. 

f       "  In  the  second  place  I  find  Love  to  be  the  most 

'    perfect  and   absolute   liberty.      Nothing  can  move 

Love,  but  Love ;   nothing  touch  Love,  but  Love ; 

nor  nothing  constrain  Love,  but  Love.     It  is  free 

from    all   things ;    itself   only  gives    laws   to   itself, 

'•■    and  those  laws  are  the  laws  of  Liberty;  for  noth- 

\    ing  acts  more  freely  than  Love,  because  it  always 

\   acts  from  itself,  and  is  moved  by  itself;  by  which 

12 


134        ALCHEMY  AND  THE  ALCHEMISTS. 

prerogatives  Love  shows  himself  allied  to  the  Di- 
vine Nature,  yea,  to  be  God  himself. 

"  Thirdly,  Love  is  all  strength  and  power.  Make 
a  diligent  search  through  Heaven  and  Earth,  and 
you  will  find  nothing  so  powerful  as  Love.  What 
is  stronger  than  Hell  and  Death?  Yet  Love  is 
the  triumphant  conqueror  of  both.  What  more 
formidable  than  the  wrath  of  God?  Yet  Love 
overcomes  it,  and  dissolves  and  changes  it  into 
itself.  In  a  word,  nothing  can  withstand  the  pre- 
vailing strength  of  Love :  it  is  the  strength  of  j ; 
Mount  Zion,  which  can  never  be  moved.  I  j 

"In  the  fourth  place:  Love  is  of  a  transmuting     j 

and  transforming  nature.     The  great  effect  of  Love    n 

is  to  turn  all  things  into  its  own  nature,  which  is   ji 

all   goodness,   sweetness,  and  perfection.      This  is   ji 

that  Divine  power   which  turns  water  into  wine ; 

sorrow  and  anguish  into   exulting  and  triumphant 

joy;    and  curses  into  blessings.      Where  it  meets 

with   a  barren  and  heathy  desert,  it  transmutes  it 

into  a  paradise  of  delights ;   yea,  it  changeth  evil 

into  good,  and  all  imperfection  into  perfection.     It 

restores   that  which   is  fallen  and   degenerated   to 

its  primary  beauty,  excellence,  and  perfection.      It   \\ 

i". 
is   the   Divine    Stone,    the    White    Stone    iviih   the 

name  ivritten  upon  it,  luhich   no  one  knoivs  but  he 


ALCHEMY    AND  THE    ALCHEMISTS.  135 

that  hath  it.  In  a  word,  it  is  the  Divine  Nature, 
it  is  God  himself,  whose  essential  property  it  is  to 
assimilate  all  things  with  himself;  or  (if  you  will 
have  it  in  the  Scripture  phrase)  to  reconcile  all 
things  to  himself^  ivhether  they  he  in  Heaven  or  in 
Earth;  and  all  by  means  of  this  Divine  Elixir, 
whose  transforming  power  and  efficacy  nothing 
can  withstand." 

In  reading  such  passages,  written  by  an  Alche- 
mist, a  reader  of  alchemical  books  readily  thinks  of 
the  language  employed  upon  a  certain  Mercury 
extracted  from  Saturn  (or  Antimony,  &c.,  &:c.),  in 
which  is  sown  a  certain  philosophical  gold,  and 
readily  concludes,  that,  while  the  first  refers  to  an 
awakening  of  the  conscience  which  withdraws  the 
subject  of  it  from  the  entanglements  of  a  merely 
worldly  life,  the  second  is  the  Divine  Love  en- 
grafted upon  it  which  binds  the  soul  eternally  to 
God. 

While  it  exists  as  an  affection  it  may  be  what 
is  called  "  our  "  Luna,  and  the  "  White "  state  of 
the  Stone,  for  the  Stone  is  Man.  The  course  of 
nature  seems  to  be  relied  upon  as  sufficient  to 
carry  the  subject  of  this  affection  to  a  more  or 
less  distinct  consciousness  of  the  Unity  of  all 
things,    which,    becoming    an   intellectual    convic- 


136  ALCHEMY    AND-  THE    ALCHEMISTS. 

tion,  may  be  called   Sol,  or  the   Red  State   of  the  1 1 

Stone.  |-^ 

All  of  the  writers  speak  of  three  principal  colors  i  i 

in  the  Stone,  Black,  White,  and  Red.     If  the  white  j  i 

and  red   states   be   supposed  hinted    at  above,  the  :  I 

Black,  I  take  it,  is  what  I  have  suggested  in  my  , 

pamphlet,  —  a    certain    humilitij,    which    Pontanus  ;  i 

calls    a   philosophical    contrition,   which    does    not  \'-, 

necessarily  suppose   actual  guilt,  but  only  a  sense  'i 

of  that  purity,  in  the  presence    of  which    the   an-  '•  \ 

gels  veil  their  faces  as  unworthy  to  look  upon  it.  i 

It  may  be  found  very  accurately  der^cribed  in  Goe-  i 

the's   Confessions  of  a  Fair  Saint.  \  '■ 

As    an   intellectual   result,   there    seems    nothing  i'l 

more  insisted  upon  in  alchemical   books  than  the  i  i 

Unity  ;  yet  all  Alchemists  insist  also  upon  a  Trin-  !  I 

ity.      In  the  Microcosm   it  may   be   considered   as  !  i 

imaged  by  the   Body,    Soul,   and   Spirit.      It  may  \  i 

somewhat    illustrate   the    subject,    so    far    as    man  1 1 

represents  it,  to  refer  to  the  common  language  by  i ; 

which  man  says,  I  have  a  Soul;  and  again,  / //at*e  M 

a  Body;  in  which  double  expressions  the  I  may  i? 

stand  for  the  Unity  of  the  other  two,  but  the  ex-  i  ■ 

pressions   ought  to  be  I  am  a  Soul,   and   I  am   a  ; 

Body.  I , 

Some   of  the  writers  might  possibly  lead   their  f^ 


ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS.  137 

readers  to  such  notions  as  may  be  expressed  by 
speaking  first  of  God  as  Self-existence ;  then  of 
God  regarded  as  Active  (cause),  and  then  of  God 
as  Passive  (effect)  ;  and  finally  to  conceive  these 
three  as  One  ;  for  while  a  cause  implies  necessa- 
rily an  effect,  an  effect  no  less  implies  a  cause ; 
while  both  cause  and  effect  imply  necessary  exist- 
ence. 

A  good  deal  is  said  of  a  certain  (which  many 
may  think  always  means  a  very  uncertain)  middle 
substance,  —  "  which  is  to  be  taken,"   say  some  of 
I  the   w^riters.      This   expression    implies   a    Trinity, 
i  for  there  can  be  no  middle  without  extremes ;   and 
so,  again,  there  can  be  no  extremes  without  a  mid- 
dle, and  no  one  extreme  without  another.     This  is 
illustrated  in   Plato's   Statesman,   under   the  words 
moderation,   excess,  and  deficiency,  where  Moder- 
ation is   treated   as   the   regulating,    self-balancing 
permanent  in  the  ever-variable  extremes.      It  may 
be  regarded  as  the  scientific  view  of  the  celebrated 
poetic  in  media,  &c.,  where  alone  is  found  what 
|l  a  modern  writer  has.  very  happily  called  the  ani- 
mated repose  of  nature. 

.  Whatever  be  the  mode  of  it,  the  Hermetic  writers 
all  indicate  some  doctrine  of  the  Trinity,  yet  on  no 
account  is  this  suffered  to  veil  the  Unity.     They 


138  ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS. 

sometimes  speak  of  three  inseparable  or  co-existing 
principles^  and  say  that  either  one  of  the  three  may  h 
be  conceived  as  the  base  of  the  other  two,  which 
then,  relatively  only,  are  regarded  as  "  Superficial";  !i 
as,  the  notion  of  Father  implies  that  of  Son  ;  but  \\ 
the  idea  of  the  Son  no  less  posits  that  of  the  Fa-  \\ 
ther ;  while  the  two  presuppose  a  nature  common  ;:| 
to  both.  ; 

In  a  somewhat  similar  manner,  an  essence  sup-  j 
poses  existence,  while  existence  supposes  essence,  h 
"  One  is  not  without  the  other,"  says  Swedenborg;  \\ 
whence,  though  the  language  may  seem  unusual  at  \ 
first,  it  might  be  said  that  God  is  the  essence  of  'i 
Nature,  while  Nature  is  the  existence  of  God,  and  X 
yet  inseparable  in  unity.  And  here,  if  it  should  be  iJ 
asked  what  is  the  nature  of  God,  the  answer  might  ;J 
be,  it  is  nature  itself;  for  nature  is  not  the  nature  of  ? 
anything  but  of  God,  whose  essence  is  nevertheless  j  ; 
invisible,  while  his  existence  is  altogether  and  abso-  i  \ 
lutely  undeniable.  \ 

In  a  somewhat  similar  manner,  every  subject  in  ji 
nature  may  be  regarded  in  a  twofold  point  of  view  ; 
as  it  is  in  its  principles  (substantially)  and  as  it 
is  in  manifestation  (phenomenally).  Thus  Water,  |  i 
Air,  Light,  &c.  are  variable,  fluctuating  things,  : 
phenomenally  considered  ;  but  the   sciences  of  by-     1 


ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS.  139 

drostatics,  pneumatics,  and  optics,  drawn  from 
these  subjects^  express  the  unchangeable  laws  ac- 
cording to  which  the  phenomena  take  place  ;  yet 
the  permanent  and  the  transient  are  inseparable 
in  all  of  them ;  and  if  the  whole  of  nature  be  con- 
sidered as  one  subject^  it  may  be  conceived,  from 
this  view,  as  permanent  in  its  laws,  that  is,  in  its 
science ;  but  variable,  phenomenally,  to  the  senses  : 
but  the  two  are  inseparable,  and  in  the  expressions, 
one  nature,  one  science,  and  one  manifestation,  we 
find  a  Trinity. 

In  the  view  expressed  by  Swedenborg  I  find 
something  similar,  for  he  says  that  there  is  a  Trin- 
ity in  all  things,  which  he  calls  end^  cause,  and 
effect ;  saying  that  the  effect  is  a  manifestation 
(what  Van  Helmont  calls  an  out-birth)  of  the  End, 
as  existing  in  the  Idea  of  God,  the  Unity  and  Cause 
of  all.  Each  of  these  ideas  is  correlative,  and  sup- 
poses the  other  two ;  and  hence  it  would  seem  to 
be  impossible  for  man  to  deny  either  the  Unity  or 
I  Trinity,  a  right  conception  of  which  may  be  the 
most  important  idea  a  philosopher  can  reach, 
though  in  its  attainment  he  may  be  compelled  to 
undergo  a  complete  revolution  of  ordinarily  received 
educational  notions  usually  laid  upon  the  sensuous 
organism,  without  penetrating,  indeed,  to  any  great 


140        ALCHEMY  AND  THE  ALCHEMISTS. 


depth.     In  this  view,  every  discovery  in  science  — 

for  science  is  a  discovery,  and  not  an  invention  —  u 

is  an  entrance  into  a  knowledge  of  God's  essence  i  i 

by  means  of  which   man  enters   upon  the  control  ■  i 

of  nature  ;  for  nature  is  subjected  to  man's  control  U 

only  by  a  knowledge  of  its  unchangeable  principles  '. 
or  laws,  by  means  of  which  it  becomes  obedient  of 

the  art  of  man,  which  nevertheless  is  subordinate  ;  \ 

to  nature,  contrary  to  which   art  can    accomplish  ! 

nothing.  |( 

This  I  take  to  be  the  sense  of  Lord  Bacon,  —  Sir  !  i 

Francis  and  not  the  Friar, —  where  he  says  :  "  Man,  \' 

as  a  minister  and  interpreter  of  Nature,  does  and  |t 

understands   as  much   as   his   observations    on   the  \'\ 

order  of  Nature,  either  with  regard  to  things  or  the  U 

mind,  permit  him  ;  and  neither  knows  nor  is  capable  \i 

of  more."  • 

In  one  of  my  Alchemical  volumes,  I  find  Art  is  [i 

defined    as   nature  ivorking-  through  man;   and  we  [' 
read  in  Shakespeare  :  — 

^^Perdita.  I  have  heard  it  said, 

There  is  an  art,  which,  in  their  piedness,  shares 
With  great  creating  Nature. 

'■'■  Polixenes.  Say,  there  be; 

Yet  nature  is  made  better  by  no  mean, 
But  nature  makes  that  mean  :  so,  o'er  that  art, 


ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS.  141 

Which,  you  say,  adds  to  nature,  is  an  art 

That  nature  makes.     You  see,  sweet  maid,  we  marry 

A  gentler  scion  to  the  wildest  stock  ; 

And  make  conceive  a  bark  of  baser  kind 

By  bud  of  nobler  race.     This  is  an  art 

Which  does  mend  nature,  —  change  it  rather  ;  but 

The  art  itself  is  nature.''^ 


But  I  insist  upon  nothing  upon  this  subject,  and 
will  in  patience  bide  my  time  ;  meanwhile  adopting 
the  doctrine  of  Socrates,  not  to  think  I  know  what 
I  do  not  know.  Still  I  will  repeat  that  a  notion  of 
the  Unity,  in  some  sense,  seems  important  with  the 
Alchemists,  a  number  of  whom  endeavor  to  indi- 
cate a  method  of  arriving  at  a  knowledge  of  it, 
which  seems,  with  them,  the  principle  of  what  they 
call  the  "  fixation "  of  the  matter  of  the  Stone,  for 
no  man  can  attain  to  a  unity  in  himself  while 
drawn  in  opposite  directions  by  principles  out  of 
harmony  with  each  other.  "  No  man  can  serve  two 
masters." 

If,  now,  Love  be  a  prevailing  cause  in  bringing 
about  this  unity  in  man  both  with  himself  and  with 
God,  —  and  one  cannot  be  without  the  other;  and 
if  this  be  the  "philosophic  gold"  we  read  of  in 
books  of  Hermetic  Philosophy;  and  if  this  Love 
cannot  take  root  except  in  a  conscience  purged  of 


142  ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS.  I' 

all  "  superfluities,"  and  yet  is  something  common  I.: 
to  all  men ;  and  if  this  purgation  is  not  genuine  ;..j 
except  it  arises  in  the  subject,  as  proper  to  it,  in  j 
order  to  a  preservation  and  not  a  destruction  of  the  i 
specific  nature  of  the  subject,  —  then,  I  think,  I  have  1 1 
a  glimpse  of  what  may  be  called  a  theory  for  the  || 
explanation  of  alchemic  books,  and  may  form  some  ;  \ 
remote  opinion  of  the  so  earnestly  sought  Philoso-  ;  i 
pher's  Stone,  before  which  all  contradictions  in  life  ;  \ 
disappear.  Here  are  the  waters  of  Zemzem,  this  is  \  \ 
the  great  elixir,  and  this  the  universal  medicine ;  j  \ 
yet  the  students  of  this  divine  science,  as  the  ,  \ 
writers  call  it,  are  now  universally  regarded  as 
having  devoted  their  lives  to  the  perishable  treas- 
ures of  the  world.  That  they  have  brought  this 
reputation  upon  themselves,  by  their  mystical  and 
symbolic  language,  is  very  certain ;  yet,  however 
much  they  might  have  been  mistaken,  there  seems 
no  reason  now,  in  this  "enlightened  age,"  why 
some  attempt  should  not  be  made  to  show  them 
as  they  were,  in  pursuit  of  the  one  thing  needful, 
be  it  what  it  may. 

I  would  be  thought  strenuous  in  setting  forth 
what  I  call  the  ivaij  to  the  Philosopher's  Stone,  and 
yet  there  is  not  wanting  a  variety  in  the  modes 
adopted  for  carrying  the  student  to  a  comprehen- 


ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS.  143 

sion  of  the  mysteries  about  which  the  writers  em- 
ploy themselves. 

Eyrseneus  Philalethes,  sometimes  called  Cosmo- 
polita,  for  he  wrote  under  both  names,  in  one  place, 
I  think,  points  very  plainly  to  the  two  processes, 
analysis  and  synthesis^  both  of  which  have  one  end. 
To  seek  the  Unity  through  Sol,  I  take  it,  is  to 
employ  the  intellect  upon  the  Idea  of  the  Unity,  by 
analysis  to  terminate  in  the  parts  ;  whereas  to  study 
upon  Mercury,  here  used  for  nature  at  large,  is  to 
work  synthetically,  and,  by  combining  the  parts, 
reach  an  idea  of  the  Unity.  The  two  lead  to  the 
same  thing,  beginning  as  it  were  from  opposite  ex- 
tremes ;  for  the  analysis  of  any  one  thing,  com- 
pletely made,  must  terminate  in  the  parts,  while  the 
parts,  upon  a  synthetical  reconstruction,  must  repro- 
duce the  Unity.  One  of  the  two  ways  indicated  by 
Eyraeneus  is  spoken  of  as  a  Herculean  labor,  which 
I  suppose  to  be  the  second,  the  reconstruction  of  a 
unity  by  a  recombination  of  the  parts,  which,  in 
respect  to  nature,  is  undoubtedly  a  Herculean  un- 
dertaking. The  more  hopeful  method  is  by  medi- 
tation under  the  preparation  pointed  out  so  clearly 
by  Basil  Valentine. 

Some  of  the  writers  tell  us  to  put  "  one  of  the 
Bodies  into  the  Alembic,"  that  is,  —  for  this  is  what 


144  ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS. 


i1 


[1 


is  meant, — take  the  Soul  into  the  thought  or  study,  ' 
and  apply  the  fire  (of  intellect)  to  it  until  it  "  comes  \\ 
over"  into  spirit.  Then,  "putting  this  by  for  use,"  \\ 
put  in  "  the  other  Body,"  which  is  to  be  subjected  N 
to  a  similar  trial  until  it  "comes  over"  also;  after  1 
which  the  two  may  be  united,  being  found  essen- '  j 
tially  or  substantially  the  same.  Such  experiments  is 
are  not  intended  for  novices.  '  i 

Others  point  out  some  sort  of  affinity  between  -i 
the  Spirit  and  the  Soul,  and  then  undertake  to '  ; 
show  a  similar  affinity  between  the  Soul  and  the  i ; 
Body,  and  thus  carry  the  mind  (?)  to  a  recognition,  |j 
in  some  Avay,  of  a  mutual  and  inseparable  interde-ij 
pendence  of  all  upon  all.  But  this  is  all  done  in  \ . 
figures  and  symbols.  ' 

This  is  a  very  strange  mode  of  dealing  with  i 
metaphysical  questions,  but  no  one  will  ever  know!! 
anything  of  the  import  of  the  books  of  Hermetic  i  ? 
Philosophy  who  shuts  his  mind  to  it,  and  persists  1  i 
in  the  vulgar  opinion  that  the  Alchemists  were  in  |J 
pursuit  of  gold.  I  \ 

Whoever   examines   the    "Six   Keys,"  published  I  i 

at  the  end  of  the  Hermetic  Triumph  (an  excellent ! : 

i 
work,  by  the  way),  may  discover  that  the    Third\\ 

Key  is  the  explanation  of  the  Unity,  but,  of  course,  ' ' 

in  the  usual  veiled  language.     An  e very-day  reader,  1 1 


ALCHEMY  AND  THE  ALCHEMISTS.        145 

or  one  who  reads  for  amusement,  would  not  gather 
a  single  idea  from  the  perusal  of  those  "  Six  Keyes," 
but  a  student,  "germane  to  the  matter,"  after  re- 
peated perusals,  in  connection  with  other  books 
treating  of  the  same  subject,  may  at  least  discover 
,  enough  to  perceive  the  general  object  of  the  author, 
i  and  cannot  fail  to  conclude  that,  whatever  he  was 
writing  about,  it  was  not  gold. 

The   passage   cited  by  the   Reviewer,   in   which 

.  some   writer*   instructs    a    pupil,  — "  Je   vous    com- 

,  mande,  fils  de  doctrine,  congelez  I'argent  vif.     De 

plusieurs  choses  faites,  2,  3,  et  3,  1,  1  avec  3  c'est 

,  4,  3,  2,  et  1.     De  4  a  3  il  7  a  1 :   de  3  a  4  il  7  a  1, 

,  done  1  et  1,  3  et  4 ;  de  3  a  1  il  7  a  2;  de  2  a  3  il  7  a 

1.     Je  vous  ai  tout  dit,"  —  is  an  attempt,  very  blind 

j  I  confess,  to  lead  the  student  to  some  notion  of  the 

universal  unity;  —  how,  from   a  beginning,  which 

nevertheless  has  no  commencement,  all  things  were 

I  separated  into  "  2,"  which  the  serious  student  may, 

I  if  he  chooses,  consider  the  heavens  and  the  earth, 

':  when  yet  "the  earth  was  without  form  and  void,. 

and   darkness   was   upon   the   face    of    the   deep." 

I  Out   of    this    chaos,   by   the   word    of    God,   was 

brought,  order,   system,   and   harmony.      So  is  it, 

say  these  waiters,  in  the  "great  work."      Men  are 

,  r  not  born  into  a  sense  of  the  Unity,  intellectually  or 

li 


146  ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS. 

otherwise,  but  of  the  "  Many,"  which,  as  the  crown- 
ing end  of  discipline,  is  to  be  conceived  in  Unity. 

"  The  knowledge  of  the  first  member,  of  the 
Unity,"  says  Socrates  in  the  Seventh  Book  of  the 
Republic,  "is  one  of  the  things  that  exalt  the  mind,  1^ 
and,  by  separating  it  from  sensuous  things,  leads  I 
it  to  the  contemplation  of  that  which  i5." 

The  Alchemists  were  of  the  opinion,  that  the  !i 
knowledge  of  the  One  cannot  be  directly  taught,  i 
and  this  was  the  opinion  of  Plato,  as  it  is  of  many  i  j 
modern  divines  of  the  highest  learning  and  genius,  i  i 
and  those  who  hold  this  opinion  lose  sight  of  their  j 
own  principles  when  they  attempt  directly  to  teach  j ; 
it.  They  resort  therefore  t6  numbers,  figures,  and 
allegories.  The  particular  passage  above  cited 
from  the  Review,  especially  signalized  by  M.  Fi- 
guier,  had  no  other  design  than  to  indicate  the  pro-  ji 
gress  of  things  to  Unity,  most  likely  by  a  student 
of  the  Pythagorean  system,  where  much  is  made 
of  1,  2,  3,  4,  and  7.  I  have  noticed  it,  not  to  rec- 
ommend it,  but  in  order,  by  pointing  at  the  intent 
of  it,  to  show  that  it  was  not  invented  by  a  seeker 
after  gold,  but  by  some  one  who  probably  held 
the  Unity  to  be  ineffable,  and  that  it  can  only  be 
indicated  by  shadows  and  similitudes,  while  yet  a 
true  knowledge  of  it  is  "  all "  one  needs,  because, 


ALCHEMY  AND  THE  ALCHEMISTS.       147 

in  short,  it  is  the  knowledge  of  God,  who  is  All 
in  All.  Such  passages,  held  up  to  ridicule  by  the 
Reviewer,  ought  not  to  be  considered  alone,  but 
should  be  read  in  connection  with  entire  works 
on  the  subject,  in  which  one  part  may  throw  light 
upon  every  other.  The  books  are  everywhere  filled 
with  enigmas  "hard  to  be  understood,"  but  with 
patience  and  application  a  student  will  meet  with 
a  great  deal,  if  not  entire  satisfaction.  Every  po- 
sition or  opinion  found  in  these  works  is  expressed 
enigmatically,  as  witness  what  Basil  says  of  the 
Unicorn's-horn,  where  the  Unity  is  indicated,  and 
with  it,  the  doctrine  of  its  freedom  from  evil,  it 
being  in  its  nature  incapable  of  it. 

Van  Helmont,  to  teach  that  more  can  be  accom- 
plished by  following  nature  than  by  attempting  to 
force   nature  to  follow  us,  gravely  tells  a  story  of 
I  two  ships  being  built,  upon  one  of  which  the  plank 
'   was  laid  with  the  top  ends,  as  they  grew  in  the 
'  tree,  towards  the  bow,  while  upon  the  other  they 
were  nailed  without  regard  to  this  principle;   and 
he  tells  us  that  the  first  was  by  far  the  best  sailer. 
I'  Van  Helmont's   readers   may  remember  a  remark- 
able story  of  a  man  who  had  a  nose  supplied  from 
the  arm  of  another  man,  who  submitted  to  an  op- 
eration  for   a   consideration.     The   nose   answered 


148  ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHExMISTS. 

:  I 

very  well  for  a  time,  and  appeared  quite -natural;  i 

but  one  day,  suddenly,   in    Strasburg    I   believe  it  I 

was,  the  nose  fell  off;   it  was  soon  after  ascertained  i 

that  the  original  owner  of  the  nose  had  died  coin-  i 

cident  with  the  loss    of  it.     Van    Helmont  meant  ; 

to  teach  that   doctrines    of  time   perish  with  their  ! 

sources.  This  was  all  he  intended  by  that  strange  j 
story. 

Thi;.;  mode  of  teaching  may  be   stigmatized   as  j 

trivial  and  ridiculous ;   but   whoever   denounces  it  , 

ought  at  least  to  understand  the  object  of  it.     Her-  j 

metic  Philosophy,  so  far  as  it  is  philosophy  at  all,  i^ 

is   nothing  but  the  truth  of  nature  clothed  or  set  \i 

out  under  a  veil ;    that  is,  hid  in  figures,  symbols,  i ! 

and  enigmas.     It  obliges  the  student  to  appeal  to  \i 

the  source  of  it,  and  what  cannot  be  found  there  \i 

may  and  should   be  neglected,  or  at  least  held  in  \l 

reserve.  j 

Norton,  in  the  fifth  chapter  of  his  Ordinall,  refers  ; ' 

to  the  Seven  virtues  for  amending  the  "faults"  of  |' 

man  as  follows:  —  the  virtues  being  the  four  car-  (i 

dinal    virtues,  —  prudence,    temperance,    fortitude,  jj 

and    justice ;    and  the  three   theological  virtues,  —  M 

faith,  hope,  and  charity.  \\ 

"Moreover  it  helpeth  in  Alchemy,  i 

To  know  Seven  waters  eflfectually;  {j 


ALCHEMY  AND  THE  ALCHEMISTS.        149 

,  Which  be  copied  with  many  a  man  ; 
While  they  be  common,  seek  them  as  ye  can ; 
Desire  not  this  Book  to  show  things  all, 
For  this  book  is  but  an  Ordinal!. 
By  those  Waters  men  weene  in  mind 
All  faults  to  amend  of  metaline  kind. 

For  they  suppose  with  confidence  unfeigned, 
That  all  virtues  requisite  in  them  be  contained  ; 
Some  to  mollify  Metals  hard  wrought, 
And  some  to  harden  Metals  that  be  soft,"  &c.,  &c. 

|k       I  suppose  it  must  be  admitted  that  books  of  Al- 

',  chemy  had  no  charms  for  the  so-called  general 
reader,  who  required  pictorial  scenes  for  the  fancy, 
or  occasions  for  sentiment ;  but  as  for  thinking,  that 

i  was  too  much  of  a  task,  and  must  be  had  at  second 
hand.     This  sort  of  writing  was  never  intended  for 

I  ordinary  readers;  but  now,  as  the  age  is  gone  by 
when  such  books  were  written,  it  is  surely  inter- 

f  esting  to  learn  how  men  of  thought  communicated 
with  each  other  all  over  Europe,  by  means  of  a 
conventional  language,  forced  into  existence  and 
use,  in  part,  no  doubt,  by  the  persecution  to  which 
all  free  thought  was  exposed.  The  language  was 
called  by  those  who  used  it  Lingua  magica,  Lin- 
gua Angelorum^  and  sometimes  Lingua  ipsius  Ter- 
narii  Sanctis — in  the  use  of  which  the  writers  admit 

13* 


ii 


150        ALCHEMY  AND  THE  ALCHEMISTS. 

that  all  who  attempted  it  were  not  equally  success 

> 
ful.       One    small   work   has   this    significant   title:  A 

Zoj'oaster^s  Cave ;  or^  The  Philosophers'  Intellectual 

Echo  to  one  another  from  their  Cells. 

This  Compendium  of  the  "  Work "  opens  ab-  i 
ruptly  thus  :  —  ! 

"  Dry  water  from  the  Philosopher's  clouds  I  Look  ^ 
for  it,  and  be  sure  to  have  it,  for  it  is  the  key  to  in-  i 
accessibles  and  to  those  Locks  that  would  otherwise  i 
keep  thee  out. 

"  It  is  a  middle  nature  between  Fixed  and  Not  .] 
Fixed,  and  partakes  of  a  Sulphur  Azurine.  '■] 

"  It  is  a  raw,  cooling,  feminine  Fire,  and  expects  I  ] 
its  impregnation  from  a  Masculine,  Solar  Sulphur."  ;i 

The  interpretation  of  this,  according  to  the  view  i 
I  take  of  Alchemy,  is  simply  this :  —  A  pure  con-  I 
science  (or  a  pure  heart),  —  look  for  it,  and  be  sure  ;  I 
to  have  it,  for  it  is  the  key,  &c.  It  is  of  a  middle  i ; 
nature  between  Soul  and  Body,  and  partakes  of  a  !  * 
heavenly  spirit.  It  expects  (or  will  receive)  life  \\ 
from  God  (and  the  birth  is  Love  and  Unity).  ^  I 

This  little  work  says  :  "  Our  water  (the  Antimo-  :( 
nial  Vinegar  of  Artephius)  is  a  lustral,  or  expiating  i  { 
essence,  and  the  cause  efficient  of  the  charity  of  the  i 
whole  Body,  and  medicine.  Two  things  it  works  i 
in  the  Earth  [i.  e.  in  man] :  it  washes  it ;  it  tinges   \ 


ALCHEMY  AND  THE  ALCHEMISTS.        151 

it:   as  it  washes,  it  is   Water;  as  it  tinges,  it  is 
Air." 

The   reader    may   easily   see    how   these  writers 
enjoin  upon  all  who  seek  the  Truth  a  pure  heart, 
as  a  preparation  for  an  entrance  into  high  experi- 
ences.    They  tell  us  the  latter  is  not  possible  with- 
out the  former  ;  —  as  if  acting  upon  the  principle 
that    everything   in   the    universe    has    its    proper 
I    "cause  efficient,"  without  which  the  effect  cannot 
follow.     The  simplicity  of  the  doctrine  ought  not  to 
,    be  an  objection  to  it.     There  are  mysteries  enough 
I    independently  of  it. 

;  There  are  many  signs  in  alchemical  volumes  of  a 
=  Secret  Society,  in  which  possibly  the  language  used 
I  was  conventionally  determined.  I  have  at  times 
\  thought  that  some  members  of  the  Masonic  frater- 
;  nity  might  have  found  the  secret  language  of  the 
Alchemists  a  convenient  mode  of  publishing,  or 
I  rather  of  circulating  among  the  initiated,  doctrines 
of  which  they  had  taken  "  an  oath "  not  to  speak 
directly,  or  to  make  known  except  to  a  brother. 

It  is  quite  certain  that  books  in  a  mysterious 
language  were  written  by  members  of  the  Eosicru- 
cian  Society,  who,  I  think  it  would  be  easy  to  show, 
had  agreed  to  speak  and  write  of  each  other  before 
the  uninitiated  as  sylphs,  fairies,  elfs,  gnomes,  and 


152  ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS.  H 

salamanders.     The  small  volume  under  the  title  of  ^i 

the  Comte  de  Gabalis,  I  am  persuaded,  was  written  \i 

by  a  Rosicrucian,  and  exhibits   something  of  the  ii 

manner  by  which  the  members   of  that  fraternity  ft 

approached  strangers,  and  sounded  them  upon  the  *■ 

subject  of  becoming  members.     The  work  was  well  ^ 

known  in  its  day,  and  has  made  some  talk  recently,  ^ 
but  it  is  not  the  work  of  an  Alchemist. 

Whatever  may  be  the  fact  with  regard  to  some  of  j 

the  books,  as  excrescences,  having  some  appearance  i 

of  belonging  to  the  class  of  Hermetic  works,  but  ) 

without  value,  there    can   be  no  doubt  of  the  an-  i 

tiquity  of  the  subject,  or  of  the  enigmatical  mode  of  ) 

treating  it.     This  would  still  be  true,  even  admitting  i 

that  the  works  under  the  name  of  Hermes  are  all  i 

supposititious.      It  can   never  be  ascertained   who  i 

wrote  the  Smaragdine  Table,  or  when  it  was  writ-  J 

ten  ;  but,  for  all  practical  purposes,  such  questions  i ! 

are  of  no  importance  ;  because  the  point  always  is,  i  i 

not  as  to  the  authorship,  but  as  to  the  truth  of  the  jj 

doctrines  published.  i  \ 

Questions  of  science  cannot  be  determined  upon  H 

testimony   except   for   the   unscientific,   who    must  '  j 

receive    upon    trust   what    they   are    incapable   of  ij 

verifying  by  an  appeal  to  what  are  called  first  i 
principles. 


ALCHEMY  AND  THE  ALCHEMISTS.        153 

In  matters  of  history,  where  testimony  to  facts  is 
important,  it  is  otherwise.     In  this  case,  the  veracity 
and  competency  in  judgment  of  the  historian  must 
be  established,  or  the  facts  recorded  may  be  looked 
j  upon  as  comparatively  unimportant. 
'       Bat  no  question  dependent  upon  outward  testi- 
;  mony  for  solution  is  essentially  important  for  the 
i  inner  well-being  of  man,  which,  by  Divine   Provi- 
dence, or,  I  ought  to  say.  Divine  Justice,  rests  upon 
.quite    other    grounds,    making   it   possible,    as   the 
Alchemists  say,  for  the  poor  to  be  "  employed  in 
making  the  Philosopher's  Stone  "  ;  that  is,  the  most 
humble  man  living  may  be  honest,  and  enjoy  the 
blessings   of  probity.     Whoever  is  conscious  of  a 
:  failure  on  this  point  is  disqualified  for  passing  an 
adverse  judgment  upon  the  results  claimed  as  the 
fruit  of  well-doing ;  for  the  work  is  one  of  experi- 
ence, as  all  of  the  writers  testify,  —  in  what  I  under- 
stand to  be  the  spirit  of  the  text,  John  vii.  17 :  "  If 
I  any  man  will  do  his  will,  he  shall  know  of  the  doc- 
trine, whether  it  be  of  God  or  whether  I  speak  of 
|:  myself."     Whoever  will  rightly  interpret  this  text, 
.  and  abide  by  it,  will  find  the  "  pearl  of  great  price" ; 
'  and  what  does  it  signify  whether  it  be  called  a  pearl, 
or  a  stone,  the  Magaritte  of  Chaucer's  Testament  of 
Love,  or  the  "  Rose  "  of  the  Romaunt. 


154        ALCHEMY  AND  THE  ALCHEMISTS.  ! 

It  may  surprise  many  to  be  told  that  Chaucer  ^i 
was  an  Alchemist,  yet  he  is  claimed  and  quoted  as  \ 
one  by  many  of  the  writers.  The  truth  is,  he  un-  a 
derstood  Alchemy  in  the  sense  that  Robert  Boyle  i 
did,  and  approved  of  it;  but  he  saw  the  errors  oiM 
false  or  misled  Alchemists,  and  wrote  the  Canon^s  v 
Tale  to  bring  them  to  their  senses ;  but  the  Tale  fl 
itself  is  nevertheless  an  alchemical  work ;  —  as  is  • 
that  of  Otto  Tachenius,  already  referred  to,  written  '  i 
for  the  same  purpose.  '  I 

The  poems  of  Jean  de  Meung  are  all  alchemical,  ■  i 
including  the  Remonstrance  of  Nature  against  Wan-  \ 
dering  Alchemists^  which  is  not  against  Alchemy,  i 
but  against  erring  Alchemists,  designed  to  bring  ' :: 
them  back  to  the  truth.  The  Roman  de  la  Rose,  i  i 
begun  by  William  de  Lorris,  was  completed  by  i^ 
Jean  de  Meung,  and  is  itself  one  of  the  most  com-  i 
plete  specimens  of  Hermetic  Philosophy  extant,  i ! 
The  Rose  is  the  symbol  of  the  philosophic  gold,  W 
and  nothing  else.  The  edition  of  this  Romance  i^ 
published  at  Amsterdam  in  1735  is,  in  fact,  a  col-  \\ 
lection  of  Alchemical  Tracts.  j^ 

As  a  mere  question    of  literature,  there  is  more  Ij 
in  this  subject  than  is  generally  imagined.     There  ji 
is  undoubtedly  an  unexplored  mass  of  secret  writing 
in  existence,  which  proceeded  from  men  of  thought 


ALCHEMY  AND  THE  ALCHEMISTS.        155 

I  in  past  ages,  especially  near  the  period  of  the  Ref- 
I  ormation,  which,  if  it  could  be  deciphered,  would 
I  throw  a  great  deal  of  light  upon  the  history  of  the 
}  time  and  upon  the  nature  of  man  ;  but  to  enter  this 
■  field  fully  would  require  both  patience  and  genius. 
i  To  examine  this  subject  properly,  it  would  be  neces- 
i  sary  to  look  into  many  works  on  Magic,  Astrology, 
;•  and  Chiromancy,  for  there  was  a  class  of  men  who 
j  wrote  on  these  sciences  (?)  who  were  not  them- 
I  selves  duped,  however  much  they  might  have  mis- 
I  led  others.  This  has  often  been  suggested ;  but  no 
one,  so  far  as  I  know,  has  undertaken  to  explore 
these  writings,  except  from  idle  curiosity.  In  the 
Diary  of  Elias  Ashmole  may  be  seen  repeated 
I  entries,  that  he  attended  the  "  Feast  of  the  Astrol- 
I  ogers,"  without  the  smallest  notice  of  their  proceed- 
1  ings.  It  is  extremely  improbable  that  an  associa- 
:  tion,  including  such  men  as  Ashmole,  were  deluded 
:  by  astrological  nonsense,  though  it  is  quite  possible 
;  that  under  astrological  pretensions  the  wits  of  the 
(time  misrht  have  found  a  freedom  denied  them  in 

(public. 
I     I  may  be  told  that,  in  the  same  Diary,  Ashmole 
i  tells  us  of  his  curing  some  distemper  by  hanging 
three  spiders  around  his  neck.     This  may  or  ^  may 
I  not  have  a  literal  signification.     Ashmole  w^as  an 


156        ALCHEMY  AND  THE  ALCHEMISTS. 

Alchemist,  and  published  two  collections  of  alchem-^.i 
ical  works,  besides  writing  a  work  on  Alchemy  him-  U 
self;  which,  however,  does  not  rank  very  high.  1 

It  is  remarkable  that  the  best  works  on  Alchemy  j< 
are  short,  and  most  of  them  anonymous.     Notwith-jt 
standing  the  unity  of  doctrine    among   them,  theli 
mode  of  treatment  is  so  diversified  that  it  is  impos-  i  \ 
sible  to  classify  them.     Some  hold  something  like; J 
a  regular  order  in  their  treatises;  others  purposely ij 
invert  everything,  commencing  with  the  end  or  the;| 
middle  of  the  work.     Some  speak  of  a  first  work,  j  \ 
others  of  a  second,  calling  it  the  first,  &c. ;  so  that 
the  books  at  first  sight  are  perfectly  chaotic,  and 
one  knows  not  what  to  make  of  them.     If  I  had 
fallen  in  with  them  in  early  life,  I  should  probably  j 
have  despised  them,  but  meeting  v/ith  them  at  a 
mature  age,  after  I  had  been  sufficiently  schooled  in 
the  difficulties  of  what  is  commonly  called  Philos- 
ophy, I  was  quite  ready  to  believe  that  so  much 
labor  could  hardly  have  been  undertaken  without  a  j 
respectable  purpose,  by  men  who  manifestly  looked  I: 
for  no  earthly  reward.     During  the  last  two  years,  ji 
I  have  done  little  else  than  read  these  works,  and,  j^ 
though  I  would  not  recommend  any  one  to  follow 
my  example,  I  do  not  regret  the  time  I  have  em- 
ployed upon  this  study,  even  though  I  have  not  yet 


ALCHEMY  AND  THE  ALCHEMISTS.        157 

come  to  a  definite  conclusion  beyond  what  I  have 
chosen  to  call  the  Wai/,  about  which  I  am  very  sure 
I  am  not  mistaken.  The  End  points  at  some  sense 
of  the  Unity  which  I  think  very  few  men  reach, 
except  in  words  ;  for  what,  indeed,  is  the  real  sense 
involved  in  the  first  article  of  the  Creed  ?  Undoubt- 
edly it  lies  out  of  the  common  observation  of  man, 
and  can  only  be  obtained  by  a  discipline  unknown 
to  ordinary  teachers.  On  this  point  I  have  no  de- 
sire to  dogmatize,  and  am  willing  to  leave  the  sub- 
ject where  I  found  it,  under  the  rose.  The  subject 
cannot  be  approached  \vith  too  much  gravity,  and 
if  I  have  said  a  word  that  may  seem  to  imply  any 
other  disposition,  I  most  cheerfully  retract  it. 

In  reading  books  of  Alchemy  the  reader  will 
often  find  such  expressions  as  these :  "  herein  lies 
the  whole  secret "  ;  or,  "  this  is  the  whole  work  "  ;  or, 
"  this  is  all  you  need  "  ;  and  the  like ;  but  upon  com- 
paring  what  is  said  in  one  place  as  exhibiting  the 
whole  work  \vith  w^hat  is  said  in  another,  no  like- 
ness will  be  discovered.  This  arises  from  the  fact, 
or  what  is  claimed  as  such,  that  the  work  is  "  cir- 
cular,^^  and  is  so  concatenated  or  connected  in  all 
its  (inseparable)  parts  that  \vhoever  gets  a  clew  to 
any  one  of  the  parts  may  be  said  to  have  found 

14 


158  ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS. 

the  whole.  Hence  one  writer  may  say  that  the 
whole  secret  lies  in  extracting  the  philosophic  mer- . 
cury,  although  this  is  but  the  base  of  the  work. 
Another  insists  that  the  whole  secret  lies  in  making 
the  visible  invisible,  and  the  invisible  visible.  An- 
other may  say  that  the  secret  lies  in  dissolution  and 
congelation,  which  refers  to  the  two  extremes  of  the 
work,  dissolution  being  considered  the  unprisoning 
of  the  mercury,  while  congelation  or  fixation  refers 
to  the  final  indissoluble  union.  Other  writers  point 
to  the  union  alone  as  containing  the  v/hole  secret. 

"  Our  Art,"  says  one,  "  is  to  compound  two  prin-Ji 
ciples,  —  one  in  which  the  Salt,  and  another  in 
which  the  Sulphur  of  Nature  doth  abound,  [the 
reader  may  consider  that  the  author  is  referring  to 
the  Sol  and  Luna  of  Artephius  and  others,] — which  i 
are  not  yet  perfect,  nor  altogether  imperfect,  and  by 
consequence,  therefore,  may  be  exalted  by  our  Art. 
which  cannot  be  effected  upon  that  which  is  already 
perfect;  and  then  by  common  mercury  to  extract 
not  the  pondus  [i.  e.  the  substance  of  the  subject], 
but  the  celestial  virtue  out  of  the  compound."  The 
compound  is  man,  and  the  common  mercury  is  the 
conscience,  by  means  of  which  the  subject  is  to  be 
brought  under  the  influence  of  Divine  Love  ;  foi 
"  the  Love  of  man  for  God,  and  the  Love  of  Goc 


ALCHEMY  AND  THE  ALCHEMISTS.        159 

for  man,  is  one  thing."  This  "  celestial  virtue,"  the 
author  goes  on  to  say,  "  being  fermental,  begets  in 
the  common  mercury  an  offspring  more  noble  than 
itself,  which  is  our  true  Hermaphrodite,  which  will 
congeal  itself." 

"  Three  kinds  of  most  beautiful  flowers,"  says 
another,  "  are  to  be  sought,  and  may  be  found  in 
the  garden  of  the  Wise :  damask-colored  Violets 
[love],  the  milk-white  Lily  [purity],  and  the  im- 
mortal Amaranthus  [immortality].  Not  far  from 
the  fountain,  at  the  entrance,  fresh  violets  do  first 
salute  thee,  which  being  watered  by*  streams  from 
the  great  golden  river,  put  on  the  most  delicate 
color  of  the  dark  sapphire;  the  sun  will  give  thee 
signs.  Thou  must  not  sever  such  precious  flowers 
from  their  root  until  thou  makest  the  Stone ;  for 
the  fresh  ones  cropped  off  have  more  juice  and 
tincture ;  and  then  pick  them  carefully  wdth  a  gen- 
tle and  discreet  hand ;  if  fates  frown  not,  they  will 
easily  follow,  and  one  flower  being  plucked,  the 
other  golden  one  will  not  be  wanting  :  let  the  Lily 
and  the  Amaranth  succeed  with  greater  care  and 
labor." 

This  is  a  synopsis  of  the  whole  w^ork. 

There    are   many   detached   descriptions    of    the 


160        ALCHEMY  AND  THE  ALCHEMISTS. 

work  pointing  more  especially  to  the  Unity,  pass- 
ing over  or  touching  but  slightly  upon  the  means 
or  the  Way. 

Here  is  one,  entitled,  — 

"A  DESCRIPTION   OF   THE   STONE. 

"  Though  Daphne  fly  from  Phoebus  bright, 

Yet  shall  they  both  be  one, 
And  if  you  understand  this  right, 

You  have  our  hidden  stone. 
For  Daphne,  she  is  fair  and  white ; 

But  Volatile  is  she ; 
Phoebus  a  fixed  God  of  might, 

And  red  as  blood  is  he. 
Daphne  is  a  water  Nymph, 

And  hath  of  moisture  store, 
"Which  Phoebus  doth  consume  with  heat. 

And  dries  her  very  sore. 
They  being  dried  into  one, 

Of  crystal  flood  must  drink, 
Till  they  be  brought  to  a  White  Stone ; 

Which  wash  with  virgin's  milk. 
So  long  until  they  flow  as  wax, 

And  no  fume  you  can  see  ; 
Then  have  you  all  you  need  to  ask : 

Praise  God,  and  thankful  be." 

The  "  flowing  like  wax  "  is  the  pliability  of  the 
subject,  become  "  as  a  little  child."     Matt,  xviii.  3. 
Here  is  another  sample,  entitled, — 


ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS.  161 

"ENIGMA  PHILOSOPHICUM. 

"  There  is  no  light  but  what  lives  in  the  Sun  j 
There  is  no  Sun  but  what  is  twice  begot, 
Nature  and  Art  the  parents  first  begun ; 
By  Nature  't  was,  but  Nature  perfects  not. 
Art  then  what  Nature  left  in  hand  doth  take, 
And  out  of  one  a  twofold  work  doth  make. 

"  A  twofold  work  doth  make,  but  such  a  work 

As  doth  admit  division,  none  at  all, 
(See  here  wherein  the  secret  most  doth  lurk,) 
Unless  it  be  a  mathematical. 

It  must  be  two ;  yet  make  it  one  and  one, 
And  you  do  take  the  way  to  make  it  none. 

"  Lo  here  the  Primmer  Secret  of  this  Art : 
I  Contemn  it  not,  but  understand  it  right ; 

"Who  faileth  to  attain  this  foremost  part, 

Shall  never  know  Art's  force  nor  Nature's  mighty 
I  Nor  yet  have  power  of  one  and  one  so  mixed, 

To  make  by  one  Jixed^  one  unfixed  fixedP 

I  The  above  refers  entirely  to  the  End^  and  says 
nothing  of  the  means  of  attaining  it ;  but,  for  its 
purpose,  it  is  one  of  the  most  complete  descriptions 
to  be  found  anywhere. 

Here  is  still  another,  entitled,  — 

"THOMAS  ROBINSON'S  DE  L ABIDE  PHILOSOPIIORUM. 

"  The  Heavens,  the  Earth,  and  all  that  in  them  is, 
Were  in  six  days  perfected  from  abyss  : 
14# 


162        ALCHEMY  AND  THE  ALCHEMISTS. 

From  one  sprung-  four ;  from  four  a  second  one ; 

The  last  a  gritt ;  the  First  the  corner  stone. 

Without  the  First,  the  last  may  not  be  had ; 

Yet  to  the  First,  the  last  is  too  too  bad. 

"When  from  the  Earth  the  Heavens  were  separated, 

"Were  not  the  Heavens  with  Earth  first  cohobated  ? 

And  when  the  Heavens,  and  Earth,  and  All  were  not, 

Were  only  Heavens  create,  and  Earth  forgot  ? 

No  :  Heavens  and  Earth  sprung  all  from  One  at  first : 

Then  who  can  say,  or  Heavens  or  Earth  is  worst  ? 

Is  not  the  Earth  the  mother  of  them  all  ? 

And  what  the  Heavens,  bat  Earth's  essential  1 

Although  they  have  in  Heaven  no  Earthly  residence, 

Yet  in  the  Earth  doth  rest  their  Heavenly  influence : 

"Were  not  the  Earth,  what  were  the  other  three  ? 

"Were  not  the  Heavens,  what  on  Earth  could  be  ? 

Thus  as  they  came,  so  shall  they  pass  together; 

Eut  unto  man  not  known  from  whence,  or  whither. 

And  for  the  time  of  Earth's  Heaven  purifying, 

Six  thousand  years  they  live,  and  have  their  dying: 

Then  all  shall  rest  eternal  and  divine, 

And  by  the  beauty  of  the  Godhead  shine. 
I  swear  there  is  no  other  truth  but  this 
Of  that  great  Stone  ;  which  many  seek  and  miss." 

The  Marrow  of  Alchemy^  though  the  versification  " 
is  rather  of  the  doggerel  order,  contains  many  useful 
directions,  of  which  I  will  give  the  following  as  a 
specimen  :  — 

"  Consider  well  the  danger,  and  be  sure 
That  better  't  is  in  safety  than  in  fear 


ALCHEMY  AND  THE  ALCHEMISTS.        163 

To  live,  and  so  you  shall  yourself  inure 
To  secrecy,  that  none  from  you  may  hear, 
Either  in  boasting  way,  what  you  can  do, 
Nor  yet  for  price  procure  the  secret  true." 

The  danger  here  referred  to  was  that  of  perse- 
cution for  opinion's  sake,  to  guard  against  which 
secrecy  is  recommended. 

"  Of  drink  and  eke  of  company  beware, 
The  one  besots,  the  other  eke  allures  : 
Secret  he  cannot  be,  to  drink  that  dare 
Too  largely ;  Temperance  best  assures  : 

This  is  the  Bar  that  doth  command  the  tongue. 
Without  which  can  it  not  be  bridled  long. 

"  All  these  things  ordered  right,  next  I  advise 
Thee  not  t'  expect  with,  over-greedy  mind 
The  event,  but  mind  the  sayings  of  the  wise. 
By  patience  long,  the  end  you  sure  will  find  ; 
He  that  hopes  in  short  time  to  receive 
His  harvest,  doth  himself  in  fine  deceive. 

"  Some  cannot  let  their  glass  stand  quiet  long, 
But  they  it  move,  or  turn,  or  jog,  or  shake  ; 
Thereby  they  do  to  Nature's  work  much  wrong, 
"Which  forced  is  her  own  Path  to  forsake, 
And  follow  these  fond  Artists'  foolish  mind ; 
Which  whoso  violates,  may  reap  the  wind. 

"  Commit  thyself,  and  work,  to  God  above ; 
Intreat  his  gi-ace,  and  help,  and  from  all  sin 
And  vice  thee  keep,  Avhich  God's  laws  do  reprove ; 
With  Him  alone  see  that  thou  do  begin, 


164        ALCHEMY  AND  THE  ALCHEMISTS. 

This  is  the  way  success  for  to  attain, 

Else  may'st  thou  toil,  but  always  toil  in  vain. 

"And  if  thou  hap  so  blessed  for  to  be, 

As  this  rare  Jewel  to  attain,  which  many 

Do  miss,  few  find,  be  sure  in  thy  degree 

That  God  thou  honor  ;  neither  do  to  any 

"Wrong  in  the  least,  for  so  to  God  thou  wilt 

Obnoxious  be  under  a  heinous  guilt. 

"  The  poor  relieve,  the  sick  from  danger  free  ; 
In  napkin  bury  not  this  talent  great ; 
Charitable  works  pursue  ;  so  shalt  thou  see 
God's  blessing  on  thee  resting,  and  on  thy  seat, 
Whilst  thou  with  mortals  haste  ;  yet  O  resolve 
With  God  at  last  to  live  ;  this  oft  revolve  : 

"  For  this  of  all  the  blessings  of  this  life 
The  greatest  is,  and  of  the  highest  price ; 
Xor  is  it  given  but  to  such,  whose  strife 
Is  to  improve  it ;  such  who  (truly  wise) 
Do  not  so  doat  on  that  which  fading  is, 
As  to  neglect  the  everlasting  bliss. 

"  Now  shall  I  briefly,  plainly,  and  indeed, 
The  real  workings  of  our  Stone  disclose, 
With  all  its  colors,  and  its  days  :  my  rede 
Whoso  observes,  shall  find  it  truly  shows 
More  than  by  any  man  hath  been  revealed. 
And  yet  there 's  something  herein  lies  concealed. 

"  The  Fire  thy  compound  shall  no  sooner  feel, 
But  altogether  like  to  lead  will  flow  ; 
The  tender  Body,  which  the  soul  of  steel 
Is,  doth  such  mighty  efficacy  show, 


ALCHEMY  AND  THE  ALCHEMISTS.        165 

That  Sol  is  whitened,  and  in  it  devoured  ; 
On  both  Medea's  broth  must  then  be  poured. 

"  This  is  our  Sea,  in  which  Two  Fishes  swim, 
Yet  neither  Fish  hath  either  scale  or  bone ; 
The  Sea  is  ever  round,  yet  hath  no  brim, 
The  Sea  and  Fishes  eke  are  all,  but  One ; 

These  we  digest  until  a  broth  they  make, 

That  all  may  in  the  Unity  partake. 

"  Attend  thou  forty  days ;  then  shall  appear 
Black  of  the  blackest,  like  a  well-burnt  coal ; 
"When  this  thou  seest,  thou  shalt  not  need  to  fear, 
But  "White  at  last  shall  show  without  control ; 
And  so  unto  the  sparkling  Red  you  come, 
Having  at  first  of  Blackness  passed  the  doom. 

"  Thus  Blackness  is  the  gate  by  which  we  enter 
To  Light  of  Paradise  ;  this  is  the  way  ; 
The  Bodies  here  reduced  are,  to  their  center : 
A  dismal  night  brings  forth  a  glorious  day. 
Let  this  thy  study  be,  this  Black  t'  attain, 
Or  else  all  other  signs  shall  be  in  vain. 

"  The  color  first  is  Argent,  for  the  Sun 
In  the  womb  of  Luna  must  descend. 
And  both  unto  their  Matter  First  must  run, 
By  Mercury  alone,  which  doth  amend 

Nature  in  its  kind,  that  Sun  and  Moon 

Are  both  eclipsed  in  this  Water  soon. 

"  The  Fire  still  working  is  the  only  cause 
Of  all  this  alteration  which  doth 


166        ALCHEMY  AND  THE  ALCHEMISTS. 

Appear ;  by  means  of  this  the  "Water  draws 

"Water  of  Life  from  Sun  and  Luna  both  : 

This  "Water  hides  a  Spirit  of  great  might,  f 

The  proper  seed  of  Sol  and  Luna  bright." 


I  will  follow  this  no  further,  for  here,  as  in  other  i 
extracts,  my  object  is  not  to  attempt  a  complete  : ; 
exhibition  of  the  "  Great  Work,"  but  to  show  that  i 
the  Alchemists  were  students  of  man^  and  to  justify  ; ! 
the  hint  of  Dr.  Kopp,  that,  if  it  be  allowed  to  con-  '  i 
sider  man  as  a  microcosm,  the  interpretation  of  the  \ 
writings  of  the  Alchemists  will  be  "  easy  "  ;  for  this  '  \ 
is  his  judgment  upon  the  very  extracts  cited  by  the  «? 
French  writer,  and  copied  by  the  English  Reviewer,  [  \ 
to  show  how  absurdly  the  Alchemists  went  to  work  h 
to  make  gold.  ; 

Alchemy  has  passed  away,  the  Reviewer  says,  t ' 
never  to  return  ;  and  this  may  be  so :  but  the  ques-  ;  i 
tions  about  which  the  Alchemists  employed  them-  i 
selves  have  not  passed  away,  and  never  shall  pass  h 
away  while  man  wanders  upon  the  surface  of  the 
earth.  They  are  the  most  interesting  questions 
which  the  heart  can  propose,  and  although  they 
begin  in  man,  the  answer  must  compass  both  the 
microcosm  and  macrocosm  ;  and  their  prosecution 
is  attended  at  this  day  with  the  same  difficulties 
and    dangers    that   have   always   surrounded  them, 


ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS.  167 

making  it  uncertain  whether  those  who  think  they 
have  attained  the  truth  are  at  liberty  to  publish  it, 
lest  the  vain  and  frivolous  should  fancy  themselves 
wise  by  learning  to  repeat  by  rote  dogmas  beyond 
their  comprehension  ;  for  the  couplet  of  Pope  is  true, 

"  Drink  deep,  or  taste  not,"  &c. 

The   warnings    of   Espagnet   are   worthy    of  all 
consideration. 

"  Whosoever  is  disposed  to  seek  the  Philosopher's 
Stone,  let  him  resolve  to  make  a  long  journey,  for 
it  is  necessary  that  he  see  both  the  Indies,"  i.  e.  he 
must  examine  and  understand  the  extreme  bounda- 
ries of  nature,  as  defined  and  terminated  by  active 
and  passive  ;  spirit  and  matter  ;  soul  and  body  ;  Sol 
and  Luna  ;  Daphne  and  Phoebus  ;  Heaven  and 
Earth  ;  the  two  doves  of  Diana ;  the  two  Fishes  of 
the  Sea  without  brim ;  and  must  discover  the  me- 
diating principle  by  which  all  contraries  are  recon- 
ciled ;  to  do  which  he  must  understand  the  nature 
of  the  fixed  and  the  volatile,  in  order  —  as  Espagnet 
proceeds  —  "that  from  thence  he  may  bring  the 
most  precious  gems  and  the  purest  gold/' 
-  "  Whoever  affirmeth  that  the  Philosopher's  Grand 
Secret  is  above  the  strength  of  nature  and  art,  is 
blind:  because  he  knows  not  the  Sun  and  Moony 


168  ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHE.AIISTS. 


"  Metals,  we  must  confess,  cannot  be  perfected  by  i; 
the  instinct  and  labor  of  Nature  only  (1  Cor.  ii.  ; 
14)  ;  yet  we  may  affirm  that  the  perfecting  virtue  is  .  ] 
hid  in  their  profundity,  and  manifesteth  itself  by  :  j 
the  help  of  Art.  In  this  work  Nature  standeth  in  U 
need  of  the  aid  of  Art ;  and  both  doth  perfect  the  !  | 
whole."  I 

"  Let  those  who  are  desirous  of  a  knowledge  of  ,  \ 
Chemistry  [Alchemy],  and  have  hitherto  followed  ri 
impostors  and  mountebanks,  sound  a  retreat,  spare  j ' 
time  and  cost,  and  give  their  minds  to  a  work  truly  h 
philosophical,  lest  the  Phrygians  be  wise  too  late, 
and  at  length  be  compelled  to  cry  out  with  the 
prophet,  Strangers  have  eaten  up  mij  strength^ 

"  In  the  Philosopher's  work,  more  toil  and  time 
than  cost  is  expended  ;  for  he  that  hath  convenient 
matter  need  be  at  little  expense  :  besides,  those  that 
hunt  after  great  store  of  money,  and  place  their 
chief  end  in  wealth,  trust  more  to  their  riches  than 
to  their  own  Art.  Let,  therefore,  the  too  credulous 
freshman  beware  of  those  pilfering  pickpockets  that 
lay  in  wait  for  gold  ;  they  demand  bright  ushering 
Sol^  because  they  walk  in  darkness." 

"  As  those  that  "sail  between  Scylla  and  Charyhdis 
are  in  danger  on  both  sides,  unto  no  less  hazard  are     i 
they  subject  who,  pursuing  the  prey  of  the  golden 


ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS.  169 

fleece,  are  carried  between  the  uncertain  rocks   of 
the  Philosopher's  Sulphur  and  Mercury.     The  more 
\   acute,  by  their  constant  reading  of  grave  and  credi- 
ble authors,  and  by  the  irradiant  Sun,  have  attained 
;  unto  the  knowledge  of  Sulphur.)  but  are  at  a  stand 
'  in  the  entrance  of  the  Philosopher's  Mercury ;  for 
writers  have  twisted  it  with  so  many  windings  and 
meanders,  and  involved  it  with  so  many  equivocal 
names,  that  it  may  be  sooner  met  with  by  the  force 
of  the  Seeker^s  Intellect,  than  be  found  by  reason  or 
toil." 

The  "  Sun  "  here  spoken  of  is  the  same  Sun  that 
illuminated  the  two  precious  jewels  at  the  bottom 
of  the  well  in  the  Romaunt  of  the  Rose,  for  that 
poem,  as  I  have  already  said,  is  a  perfect  specimen 
of  Hermetic  Philosophy,  mistaken  as  it  commonly 
is  for  a  love-tale. 
I  "  Nature  proceedeth  thus  in  making  and  perfect- 
'  ing  her  works,"  (I  still  have  Espagnet  before  me,) 
"  that  from  an  inchoate  generation  it  may  bring  a 
thing  by  diverse  means,  as  it  were  by  degrees,  to 
the  ultimate  term  of  perfection.  She  therefore  at- 
taineth  her  end  by  little  and  little,  and  not  by  leaps, 
confining  and  including  her  work  between  two  ex- 
tremes, distinct  and  severed  as  by  spaces.  The 
practice   of  Philosophy,   which   is  the  ape  of  Na- 

15 


170  ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS. 


ture,  ought  not  to  decline  from  the  way  and  ex- 
ample of  Nature  in  its  working  and  direction  to 
find  out  its  happy  Stone  ;  for  whosoever  is  with- 
out the  bounds  of  Nature  is  either  in  error,  or  near-  !  s 

est  one."  I  \ 

j  I 
"  The  whole  progress  of  the  Philosopher's  work  j  i 

is  nothing  but  solntioji  and  congelation  [dishearten  a  \  i 
man  first,  and  then  encourage  and  fortify  him,  but  j  ■■ 
according  to  the  laws  of  his  own  nature,  and  with-  j  i 
out  violence],  —  the  solution  of  the  body,  and  the  tj 
congelation  of  the  spirit ;  nevertheless,  there  is  but  1 1 
one  operation  of  both  :    the  fixed  and  volatile  are  |.| 
perfectly  mixed  and  united  in  the  spirit,  which  can-  | ! 
not  be  done  unless  the  fixed  body  be  first  made  |'i 
soluble   and   volatile.      By  reduction   is   the  vola- 
tile  body  fixed  into    a  permanent  body,   and  vol- 
atile nature  doth  at  last  change  into  a  fixed  one, 
as  the  fixed  nature  had  before  passed  into  a  vol- 
atile one.     Now,  so  long  as  the  natures  were  con- 
fused in  the  spirit,  that  mixed  spirit  keeps  a  mid- 
dle nature  between  body  and  spirit,  fixed  and  vol- 
atile." 

"  The  generation  of  the  Stone  is  made  after  the 
pattern  of  the  creation  of  the  world  ;  for  it  is  neces- 
sary that  it  have  its  chaos  and  first  matter,  wherein 
the  confused  elements  do  fluctuate,  until  they  be 


ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS.  171 

separated  by  the  Fiery  Spirit :  they  being  separated, 
the  light  elements  are  carried  upwards,  and  the 
heavy  ones  downwards.  The  Light  arising,  the 
Darkness  retreats :  the  waters  are  gathered  into 
one,  and  the  dry  land  appears.  At  length  the 
Two  Great  Luminaries  arise,  and  mineral  virtues, 
vegetable  and  animal,  are  produced  in  the  Philos- 
opher's Earth  [in  the  Man]." 

"  The  Elixir's  perfection  consisteth  in  the  strict 
union  and  indissoluble  matrimony  of  Siccum  and 
Humidum  [of  Phoebus  and  Daphne],  so  that  they 
may  not  be  separated,  but  the  Sicciim  may  flow 
with  moderate  heat  into  the  Humidum^  abiding 
every  pressure  of  the  Fire.     [James  i.  12.] 

"  A  Three-headed  Dragon  keeps  the  Golden 
Fleece.  The  First  Head  proceedeth  from  the 
Waters;  the  Second,  from  the  Earth;  the  Third, 
from  the  Air.  It  is  necessary  that  these  Three 
Heads  do  end  in  One  most  Potent,  which  shall 
devour  all  the  other  Dragons :  then  a  way  is  laid 
open  for  thee  to  the  Golden  Fleece. 

"  Farev/ell,  diligent  reader.  In  reading  these 
things,  invocate  the  Spirit  of  Eternal  Light ;  speak 
little,  meditate  much,  and  judge  aright." 

And  this  is  good  advice,  whether  the  Truth  be 
sought  in  one  direction  or  another. 


172  ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS. 

As  the  union  of  Sol  and  Luna  is  so  much  in- 
sisted on  by  these  writers,  I  will  adduce  another 
example  of  it  from  an  Alchemist  of  considerable  j 
authority,  or  rather  distinction  ;  for  we  must  not  j 
forget  that  mere  authority  is  of  but  little  impor-  j 
tance  with  this  class  of  students,  with  whom  the  i 
Truth  alone  is  the  sovereign  authority.  _  I 

"  Now,  that  you  may  avoid  false  processes,  and  i  1 
have  a  sure  foundation  to  build  upon,  as  to  particu-  | 
lars,  so  as  to  make  them  profitable,  and  fail  neither  j  j 
in  the  beginning,  continuation,  nor  end  of  your  |: 
Work,  I  shall  lay  down  the  following  Philosophic  ji 
verity^  for  a  Rule,  viz. :  —  ' 

"  You  must  unite  Sol  and  Luna  [here  are  the  tivo  j'»' 
fishes  in  Medea's  broth,  Phcebus  and  Daphne,  Sic- 
cum  and  Humidum,  etc.,  etc.,  etc.,  etc.]  so  firmly  and 
absolutely,  that  they  may  be  for  ever  inseparable. 
[The  reader,  surely,  need  not  be  told  that  this  is 
not  a  work  of  the  hands.]  If  you  know  not  how  |j 
to  do  this,  you  know  nothing  truly  in  our  Art.  I  j 

"  Understand  this  thing  rightly,  and  lay  hold  of  it    I 
with    diligence,   so   will   the  veil    of   Ignorance   be 
taken    from    your   eyes ;    for    all    processes   which 
centre  not  in  this  verity  are  vain  and  false. 

"  Now,  that  you  may  have  no  cause  to  complain 
of  the  brevity  of  the  afore-declared  philosophic  verity, 


ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS.  173 

hear  further  what  the  Ancients  and  great  men  in 
this  Art  say :  —  You  must  so  join  or  mix  gold  and 
silver'  [Sol  and  Luna  again]  that  they  may  not,  by 
any  possible  means  whatever^  be  separated. 

"  What  think  you,  if  I  should  so  perfectly  unite 
these  two  Bodies,  —  what  would  this  Union  come 
to  ?     The  Searcher  after  Truth  must  judge. 

"  But  truly  I  tell  thee,  that  this  united  Sol  and 
Luna,  if  perfectly  effected,  can  never  be  separated; 
no,  neither  by  Aqua  for  lis,  nor  by  any  other  trial 
whatever. 

"  And  when  they  are  thus  united,  it  is  a  very 
great  and  profitable  particular :  for  here  Luna,  by 
the  virtue  and  power  of  Sol,  is  totally ^a;e^,  gradu- 
ated, and  made  ponderous. 

"  This  is  the  particular  which  the  Ancients, 
learned  in  this  Art,  bid  you  to  understand ;  that 
you  may  be  able  to  proceed  on  to  the  conclusion 
of  the  great  Work. 

"  Here  Luna  rides  on  a  chariot  of  four  wheels, 
like  Sol,  viz.  color,  fixity,  malleability,  and  ponderos- 
ity. Here  she  borrows  six  measures  of  the  Sun, 
and  as  a  Queen,  wears  the  King's  Crown.  Here 
the  Frigidity  is  conquered  by  the  Calidity ;  and  the 
White  Woman  becomes  the  Red  Man. 

"  And  here  the  true  Filius  Her  metis  may  see,  that 

15* 


174  ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS. 

the  doctrine  of  the  true  Philosophers  differs  much 
from   the  juggling   processes   of  the   deceivers,  for    \ 
that   our  particulars  have  their  offspring  from   the    \ 
Ptoot  of  the  true  universal  subject. 

"  And  it  is  the  greatest  of  Truths,  that  the  con-  \  i 
junction  and  union  of  the  Bodies  of  Sol  and  Luna  is  \  i 
the  real  beginning-  of  our  true  medicine^  elixir^  or  I  ^ 
tincture.  \  \ 

"  Among  the  vulgar  processes  there  is  nothing  I  \ 
but  falsehood  and  deceit,  wherein  the  Luna  is  never  •  i 
fixed^  but  is  wanting  in  ponderosity,  and  black ;  :  , 
having  been  only  washed,  and  fixed  (as  they  call  J 
it)  with  Salt,  and  graduated  with  the  Sulphurs  of  I  ■ 
Mars  and  Venus.,  and  made  ponderous  with  Saturn,  r< 

"  O  foolishness!  O  blindness  of  mind  I  can  com-  |i 
mon  Salt  be  the  Soap  [another  name  for  the  water 
of  Hollandus,  the  vinegar  of  Artephius,  &::c.]  of  the 
Philosopher?  Can  common  Saturn,  or  its  vitrum, 
ever  become  our  ponderous  Ruby  Star,  our  Red 
Fixed  Eagle,  our  Red  Fixed  Sulphur  of  Sol,  or  our 
Fixed  Salamander,  ever  living  in  the  Fire  ? 

"  He  that  hath  once  truly  obtained  the  right 
Augmentum,  is  assured  that  he  has  met  with  the 
infallible  verity,  with  an  incorruptible  Tincture,  yea, 
with  an  infinite  Treasure ;  and  needs  the  help  of  no 
other  Instructor. 


ALCHEMY  AND  THE  ALCHEMISTS.        175 

"  This  Augmentum  in  the  particular  and  univer- 
sal way,  is  to  be  kept  in  the  profundity  of  Philo- 
sophic Silence ;  and  when  discoursed  of,  to  be  done 
only  in  parables,  riddles,  and  similitudes,  and  as  it 
were  at  a  distance,  that  profane  and  vile  persons 
may  be  kept  from  the  knowledge  thereof. 

"  The  possessor  of  this  Treasure  has  no  occasion 
to  run  to  kings,  princes,  lords,  nobles,  or  great 
men ;  they  who  do  so  have  none  of  the  Secret, 
but  desire  to  try  conclusions  at  other  men's 
charges. 

"  The  true  possessor  seeks  not  after  such  friend- 
ships, or  earthly  glories :  he  is  content  with  his 
modicum^  or  little,  and  has  enough,  even  the  whole 
world  in  his  Philosopher's  eggt  which  he  can  carry 
about  with  him  wherever  he  goes." 

If  the  reader  can  discover  what  the  two  Bodies 
truly  are,  which  are  so  constantly  referred  to  by 
these  writers,  he  will  make  a  great  step  towards 
understanding  their  theory.  But  he  must  not  im- 
agine he  knows  them  by  any  mere  names  what- 
ever, for  these  vary  indefinitely  under  a  constantly 
prevailing  idea.  In  the  Sophist  of  Plato  the  idea 
may  be  sought,  perhaps  successfully,  in  the  dis- 
cussion upon  the  words    entity   and   nonentity^  the 


176  ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS. 


student  carefully  noticing  how  entity  is  made  to  ; 
disappear,  and  how  nonentity  is  brought  in  among  \\ 
things  that  are,  the  difficulty  of  understanding  :  \ 
either  being  very  fully  illustrated  and  insisted  on.  ,  i 
It  may  also  greatly  assist  to  read  Cratylus  some  1 1 
half  a  dozen  times,  under  the  idea  that  it  is  a  sym-  :  i 
bolical  discussion  upon  the  nature  of  things  under  •  i 
the  form  of  an  inquiry  about  names.  "  What  is  J 
this  very  thing,  name  7^''   that  is,  what  is  a  thing?  i! 

The  "name-founder"  is  God. 

( 

In  reality,  the  question  of  the  Trinity  in  Unity  is 
involved  in  this  subject ;  to  wit,  in  what  sense  two 
(somethings)  can  be  conceived  as  one,  which,  with 
the  two,  constitute  a  Trinity  in  Unity.  It  is  a  con- 
siderable step  towards  satisfaction,  when  the  stu- 
dent is  impressed  with  the  notion  that  the  Truth, 
whatever  it  be,  is  irrevocable  and  irreversible ;  and 
that  't  is  our  business  to  discover  it,  if  possible ; 
not  to  change  it,  or  to  influence  it  in  any  manner, 
but  to  accommodate  ourselves  to  it. 

In  the  Sanscrit  Bhagvat  Geeta,  translated  by 
Wilford,  it  is  declared  to  be  the  height  of  wisdom 
to  perceive  action  in  inaction^  and  inaction  in  action; 
which  means,  if  it  means  anything,  that  cause 
(active)  and  effect  (passive)  are  two  modes  of  the 
manifestation  of  one  thing.     In  harmony  with  this 


ALCHEMY  AND  THE  ALCHEMISTS.        177 

construction,  Plato  says  in  the  Philebus,  that 
causes,  taken  universally,  and  effects,  taken  univer- 
sally, are  one  and  the  same ;  for,  in  the  nature  of 
things,  every  particular  cause  of  something  must 
itself  be  the  particular  effect  of  something ;  and  so, 
in  like  manner,  every  particular  effect  becomes  a 
cause,  or,  more  strictly  speaking,  the  occasion  or 
condition  under  which  the  uncaused  existence  in 
itself  acts  within  itself. 

But  there  is  need,  says  Plato,  in  the  Parme- 
nides,  of  a  person  naturally  clever  to  discover  these 
things,  and  of  a  person  still  more  wonderful  to  be 
able  to  explain  them  in  a  sufficiently  clear  manner. 

The  Alchemists  all  refer  the  student  to  God,  the 
uncaused  cause  of  all  things,  who  alone  commands, 
Let  there  be  Light ;  —  and  they  tell  us  that  the 
mere  study  of  books  cannot  attain  to  it;  which  is, 
no  doubt,  one  reason  among  others  for  their  mysti- 
cal mode  of  writing  of  Salt^  Sulphur^  and  Mercury. 
They  say  it  can  only  be  learned  by  inspiration,  or 
by  the  teaching  of  one  who  has  so  learned  it;  but 
yet  it  should  be  stated,  that  they  consider  a  sound 
understanding  as  the  gift  of  God;  —  and  he  cer- 
tainly must,  of  all  men,  be  the  most  blind,  who 
denies  that  his  faculties  are  gifts  of  the  Most 
High. 


178        ALCHEMY  AND  THE  ALCHEMISTS. 


1  feel  that  I  shall  not  have  accomplished  my  i 
purpose,  if  I  omit  to  notice  the  History  of  the  Al-  tj 
chemists,  published  by  Charles  Macka}^,  LL.  D.,  j  i 
included  in  a  couple  of  volumes  (1852)  entitled, !  li 
Memoirs  of  Extraordinary  Popular  Delusions^  and '-,  '■* 
the  Madness  of  Crowds.  Dr.  Mackay  has  devoted  i 
some  hundred  and  thirty  pages  of  close  print,  duo- 1 1 
decimo,  to  the  Alchemists,  and  has  given  sketches,!] 
or  what  purport  to  be  such,  of  some  forty  Searchers  \  i 
for  the  Philosopher'' s  Stone ^  and  the  Water  of  Life.\i 

In  the  whole  of  this  work  I  do  not  observe  a  i 
single  paragraph  to  show  that  Dr.  Mackay  took 
any  other  than  the  most  literal  view  of  the  Work 
of  the  class  of  men  whose  memoirs  he  assumed  to 
write.  He  seems  not  to  have  had  the  slightest  sus- 
picion that  the  Hermetic  Philosophers  had  any 
other  object  in  their  studies  and  labors  than  gold, 
or  the  discovery  of  an  agent  for  lengthening  life. 
He  nowhere  shows  that  the  improvement,  not  to 
say  perfection  of  life,  can  ever  have  been  an  object 
with  them,  but  has  brought  together  all  sorts  of 
ridiculous  stories,  most  of  which  carry  their  refuta- 
tion on  their  face,  while  many  of  the  extracts  he 
has  given  from  the  writings  of  the  Alchemists  are 
of  such  a  character  as  to  suggest,  one  would  think, 
a  double   sense,  even  to  the  most  ordinary  reader. 


ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS.  179 

Many  of  those  peculiar  men,  according  to  Dr. 
Mackay's  own  account,  sacrificed  ease,  honors,  and 
wealth,  and  submitted  even  to  the  loss  of  life,  in 
pursuit  of  one  absorbing  object;  and  yet  he  no- 
where shows  the  slightest  capacity  for  discovering 
the  nature  of  that  object. 

When  I  first  saw  these  Memoirs,  my  cariosity, 
chiefly,  was  awakened,  and  I  searched  the  volume 
to  discover  the  real  object  of  the  Alchemists,  hoping 
that  it  might  indirectly  appear,  for  it  was  plain  that 
the  author  knew  nothing  of  it;  but  I  cared  very 
little  about  the  volume  otherwise.  Now,  however, 
this  History  strikes  me  as  one  of  the  saddest  books 
I  have  ever  had  in  my  hands.  Here  is  an  entire 
class  of  men,  scattered  through  many  centuries,  de- 
voting their  whole  lives  to  the  highest  objects  that 
can  engage  the  attention  of  man,  —  to  the  study  of 
wisdom,  the  knowledge  of  God,  and  the  nature  of 
the  human  soul,  —  and  yet,  almost  without  excep- 
tion, they  are  represented  as  a  parcel  of  fools,  vaga- 
bonds, and  impostors  !  Though  some  of  them  are 
admitted  by  the  author  of  this  History  to  have  pos- 
sessed the  highest  genius,  he  was  incapable  of  even 
surmising  a  hidden  purpose  in  all  their  industrious 
"  folly  "  in  pursuit  of  the  Philosopher's  Stone,  but 
with  the  greatest  pains  he  has  labored  to  consign 
their  memory  to  the  contempt  of  all  after  ages. 


180  ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS. 

That  some  of  the  individuals  whose  lives  (?)  have 
been  written  by  Dr.  Mackay  were  impostors,  I  will-  p 
ingly  concede,  as  freely  as  I  confess  that  multitudes  f ; 
of  men  have  led  the  lives  of  wolves  under  the  mask  1 1 
of  following  the  Lamb   of  God  ;  but  where  is  the  1 1 
excuse  for  one  who  formally  attempts  to  instruct  j  i 
the  world  by  an  historical  memoir,  without  informa-i  i 
tion   as  a  foundation,   and   without  the   ability  to  j 
discriminate  between  the  true   and  the  false,   and  j  \ 
most  likely,  in  this  case,  without  even  consulting  n 
the  writings  of  the  men  of  whom  he  assumed  to 
write  the   history,  where,  at  least,  he  would  have 
found  the  most  abundant  warnings  not  to  under- 
stand them  literally  ? 

"  The  philosophers,"  says  one,  "  ever  discourse  in 
parables  and  figures  ;  nor  is  it  fit  that  all  things 
should  be  revealed  to  everybody  :  the  matter  is  to  be 
inquired  after,  and  diligently  searched  into  ;  —  with- 
out labor  and  pains,  nothing  is  to  be  obtained ;  but 
wisdom  enters  not  into  profane  souls,  nor  dwells  in 
a  body  subject  to  sin,  as  the  wise  man  affirms." 

"  lict  the  studious  reader,"  says  another,  "  have  a 
care  of  the  manifold  signification  of  words,  for 
by  deceitful  windings,  and  doubtful,  yea,  contrary 
speeches,  (as  it  should  seem,)  philosophers  unfold 
their   mysteries,  with   a   desire    of  concealing   and 


I  ALCHEMY  AND  THE  ALCHEMISTS.        181 

hiding  the  truth  from  the  unworthy,  not  of  sophis- 
ticating or  destroying  it." 

I  Flammel  illustrated  the  subject  with  hieroglyphic 
'  figures,  which  he  explained  at  length,  but  still  in 
)  cipher.  In  one  place  he  refers  to  "  the  Three  Per- 
sons rising  again,  clothed  in  sparkling  white,  which 
;  represent,"  says  he,  "  the  Bodij^  8oul^  and  Spirit  of 
our  White  Stone." 

"  The  philosophers,"  says  he,  "  do  commonly  use 
:  these  terms  to  hide  the  secret  from  unworthy  men. 
They  call  the  Body  that  Black  Earthy  which  is  ob- 
scure and  dark,  and  which  we  make  white.     They 
call  the  Soul  the  other  half,  divided  from  the  body, 
which,  by  the  purpose  of  God,  and  work  of  nature, 
gives  to  the  Body,  by  its  Imbibitions  and  Fermen- 
ftations,  a  vegetable  Soul ;  viz.  a  Power  and  Virtue 
'to  bud,  or  spring,  increase,  multiply,  and  become 
.  lohite^  like  a  naked,  shining  sword. 

"  They  call  the  Spirit  the  Tincture  and  Dryness ; 
which,  as  a  spirit,  has  power  to  pierce  all  things. 

"  It  would  be  too  tedious  to  tell  you  how  great 
reason  the  philosophers  had  to  say  always,  and  in 
all  places.  Our  Stone  hath,  answerable  to  human  kind, 
a  Body,  a  Soul,  and  a  Spirit. 

"  I  will  only  inculcate  to  you,  that  as  a  man 
endued  with  Body,  Soul,  and  Spirit  is,  notwithstand- 

16 


182  ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS. 

ing,  one  man,  or  substance  ;  so  likewise  in  this  your  i 
Wliile  CoinposUiwi,  you  have  but  one  only  sub-  i 
stance,  yet  containing  a  Bod?/,  Soul,  and  Spiritj  I 
which  are  inseparably  united.  M 

"  I  could  easily  give  you  most  clear  comparisons  j  ^ 
and  expositions  of  this  Bodj/,  Soul,  and  Spirit,  not  1  ^ 
fit  to  be  divulged  ;  but  should  I  explicate  them,  I  .i 
must,  of  necessity,  declare  things  which  God  re-  i 
serves  to  Himself,  to  reveal  to  a  select  few  of  such  i 
as  fear  and  love  him,  and  therefore  ought  not  to  be  S 
written."  | ! 

"  Let  me  entreat  you,"  says  Combachius,  in  his  l\ 
Epistle  to  the  Reader,  "  to  take  notice,  that  when  1 1 
you  find  any  mention  made  of  heaven,  earth,  soul^  \\ 
spirits,  or  our  heaven,  &c.,  these  are  not  meant  the  j ! 
celestial  heaven,  or  natural  earth,  but  terms  used  by  '  I 
the  philosophers  to  obscure  their  sayings  from  the  \ 
wicked ;  spoken  wdth  all  due  and  holy  reverence  to  | 
the  Divine  Majesty."  |^ 

"  I  would  have  the  courteous  Reader  be  here  ad-  V 
monished;"  says  Sandivogius,  "  that  he  understand  j 
my  writings,  not  so  much  from  the  outside  of  my  ! ! 
words,  as  from  the  possibility  of  nature  ;  lest  after-  h 
wards  he  bewail  his  time,  pains,  and  costs,  all  spent  p 
in  vain.  Let  him  consider  that  this  Art  is  for  the  u 
w^ise,  not  for  the  ignorant."  &c.  j' 


ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS.  183 

I       There  is  scarcely  a  single  writer  upon  this  Ai% 

who  does  not  give  similar  warnings  to  guard 
[  against  being  understood  literally.     Their  writings 

therefore  are  nothing  but  suggestions  giving  occa- 
;  sion  for  thought  in  the  reader,  who  must  look  into 
j  himself  and  into  nature  for  an  interpretation. 
i  To  refute  all  of  the  absurdities  to  be  found  in  Dr. 
i  Mackay's  book  would  greatly  exceed  my  limits.  I 
,  have  already  shown  with  sufficient  clearness,  except 

to  those  who  will  not  or  cannot  see,  that  some  of 
:  the  genuine  Alchemists,  confessed  to  be  such  by  Dr. 
i  Mackay  himself,  were  not  in  pursuit  of  either  gold 
\  or  a  long  life,  but  simply  of  a  good  life ;  as,  Geber, 

Artephius,  Basil  Valentine,  and  some  others  not 
ji  named  by  him,  as   Hollandus   and  Van   Suchten  ; 

and  by  these  examples,  though  but  a  few,  have 
t  sufficiently  proved  that  the  so-called  Memoirs  must 

■  be  worthless,  as  indeed  they  are,  except  to  feed  the 
gaping  stupidity  of  fools. 

Dr.  Mackay,  after  telling  us  that  Peter  Aponus 
I   was  an  "  eminent  physician,"  closes  the  sad  story 

■  of  this  martyr  with  didactic  coldness,  and  without 
.    one  syllable  of  sympathy,  in  these  words  :  — 

I        "  Having  given  utterance  to  some  sentiments  re- 

:    garding   religion   which   were   the    very  reverse   of 

orthodox,  he  was  summoned  before  the  tribunal  of 


184  ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS. 

the  Inquisition  to  answer  for  his  crimes  as  a  heretic  i 

and  a  sorcerer.     He  loudly  protested  his  innocence,  .  i 

even  upon  the  rack,  where  he  suffered  more  torture  ,  i 

than  nature  could  support.     He  died  in  prison  ere  i 

his  trial  was  concluded,  but  was  afterwards  found  i 

guilty.     His  bones  were  ordered  to  be  dug  up  and  i 
publicly  burned.     He  was  also  burned  in  effigy  in 

the  streets  of  Padua."  ] 

It  may  seem  hardly  charitable  to  say  so,  but  one  ,i 

may  almost  think  that  the  writer  of  this  account  i  1 

would  have  assisted  in  the  proceedings  he  so  coldly  |  ' 

records,  had  he  been  present,  and  never  once  have  i 

thought  that   the  guiding  spirit  of  those   horrible  it 

abominations  was  the  very  same  that  presided  in  ! ; 

the  dreadful  scene  enacted  in  Jerusalem  in  the  reign  i  i 

of  Tiberius.  jj 

Peter  Aponus,  the  Alchemist,  would  have  done  '1 

better  to  have  kept  his  speech  within  the  charmed  i] 

language  of  the  class  of  men  with  whom  he  held  \\ 

sympathy.      He   might  then  freely  have  talked   of  U 

Salt,   Sulphur,   and   Mercury,   and  would  have  es-  [ 

caped   the    persecution    and   tyranny    of  the    most  Ij 

abominable  of  all  tribunals  that  ever  disgraced  the  1 1 

world.  ; 

The  reader,  in  view  of  this  account  of  an  "em-  j 

inent  physician,"  is  requested  to  bear  in  mind  one  \i 


ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS.  185 

of  the   reasons    I    have    assigned   for   the   esoteric 

writing  of  the  Hermetic  Philosophers.  In  the  age 
1   of  Aponus,  1250,  Luther  himself  would  have  been 

burned  at  the  stake ;  but  by  such  men  as  Aponus 
i  the  way  had  been  prepared  for  the  great  Reformer, 
[  who  merely  proclaimed  doctrines,  the  seeds  of  which 
t   had  been   sown  some  centuries   in  advance  of  his 

appearance  in  the  w^orld.  It  was  by  the  labors  of 
:  such  men  as  Peter  Aponus  in  the  eleventh,  twelfth, 
!  thirteenth,  and  fourteenth  centuries,  that  Europe 
'  was  sufficiently  indoctrinated  in  the  principles  of 
;  free  inquiry  to  make  it  comparatively  safe  to  speak 
i  openly,  as  Luther  did.     The  result,  in  our  day,  is 

perfect  freedom  of  speech  and  writing,  except  from 

the  low  and  vulgar  tyranny  of  popular  opinion ;  and 
j  it  is  the  duty  of  all  who  know  how  to  prize  the 
'■■   privileges  of  independence,  to  do  justice  to  those 

who  prepared  the  w^ay  for  it. 
'  One  of  the  finest  philosophic  wits  of  his  time,  an 
'  Alchemist,  was  Bernard  of  Treves,  sometimes  called 
•  Trevisan,  and  often  the  g'ood  Trevisan.  ^'  He  was 
'■  born  at  Treves  or  Padua,"  says  Mackay,  "in  the 
;    year  1406."      Dr.    Mackay  introduces   him   to    his 

readers  in  these  words  :  — 

"  The   life    of  this    philosopher  is   a   remarkable 

instance  of  talent  and  perseverance  misapplied.     In 

16* 


186        ALCHEMY  AND  THE  ALCHEMISTS. 


the    search    of    his    chimera,   nothing   could   daunt  ^ 

him.     Repeated   disappointment  never  diminished  i 

his  hopes ;  and  from  the  age  of  fourteen  to  that  of  ii 

eighty-five  he  was  incessantly  employed  among  the  i  i 

drugs  and  furnaces  of  his  laboratory^  wasting  his  life  i 

with  a  view  of  prolonging  it,  and  reducing  himself  * 
to  beggary  in  the  hopes  of  growing  rich." 

If  Dr.  Mackay  had  simply  said  that  Bernard  em-  \  \ 

ployed  the  whole  of  a  long  life  in  the  pursuit  and  i  j 

practice   of    truth    and    goodness,    he   would    have  \ 

summed  up  all  that  need  be  said  of  him;  —  except  t  i 

to  give  some  account  of  his  works,  instead  of  which  ii 

the  historian  has  occupied  several  pages  in  record-  j  J 

ing  a  series  of  absurd  stories,  not  one  of  which  can  i  i 

possibly    have    been   true    of  the    man  who  wrote  i  j 

the  Letter  to    Thomas  of  Bononia^   where  Bernard  i  1 

treats  of  Alchemy.     In  order  to  be  sure  of  this,  it  is  \\ 

only  necessary  to  know  something  of  Alchemy  and  1 1 

of  the  style  of  writing  about  it,  and  then  to  read  the  |  \ 

Letter  with  some,  even  faint,  shadov/  of  the  critical  i  I 
spirit  of  Niebuhr.     The  author  of  the  Letter  never 
was  guilty  of  the  follies  attributed  to  him, 

I  will  make  a  short  extract  from  this  Letter,  by 

which  any  one  may  see  that  Bernard  was  of  a  spirit  ( 

kindred  to  that  of  Artephius,  Valentine,  and  others,  | 

who   wrote   of   Truth    symbolically,    when   it   was  \ 

dangerous  to  speak  openly.  j 


ALCHEMY  AND  THE  ALCHEMISTS.        187 

The  reader  will  please  remember  the  principles  of 
Artephius,  and  observe  the  parallel. 

"  He  therefore  that  knows  the  art  and  secret  of 

dissolution^  hath  attained  the  secret  point  of  the  art, 

which  is  to  mingle  thoroughly  the  natures^  and  out 

of  natures   [he  means,  of  the   Soul  and   Body]  to 

extract  natures  which  are  effectually  hid  in  them." 

The  reader  must  bear  in  mind  the  doctrine  of  Hol- 

landus  and  others,  that  Saturn  is  gold  internally; 

that  is,  that  man  contains  a  seed  of  goodness  and 

ti'uth  within  him,  and  the  only  point  is  to  bring  it 

out  and  make  it  active  without  destroying  the  sub- 

*  ject  of  it.     For  this  purpose  dissolution  is  here  de- 

t  Glared  to  be  necessary,  which  means  that  the  man 

must  by  gentle  means,  naturally,  and  not  violently, 

be  made  modest  and  humble ;  or,  in  short,  must  be 

brought  into  the  state  of  simplicity  and  truthfulness 

which  Christ  declared  essential  in  him  who  would 

,  enter  the  kingdom  of  heaven.     Bernard  next  pro- 

1  ceeds   to    oppose   the    practice   of  those   who   use 

violent  means  for  this  object,    and   says:  —  "How 

then  can  it  be  said  that  he  hath  found  the  truth, 

who  destroys  the  moist  nature  of  Quicksilver?    [By 

Quicksilver  here,  we  are  to  understand  the  ivater  of 

j  Hollandus  and  the  antimonial  vinegar  of  Artephius, 

"1  i.  e.  the  conscience  :]   as  those   fools  who    deform 


188        ALCHEMY  AND  THE  ALCHEMISTS. 

its  nature  from  its  metallic  [heavenly]  disposition, 
and,  dissolving  its  radical  moisture,  corrupt  it,  and 
thus  disproportion  Quicksilver  from  its  first  mineral  ' 
quality,  —  which  needs  nothing  but  purity  and  ; 
simple  decoction."  j ' 

The  point  in  this  doctrine,  and,  as  I  have  said  '  \ 
repeatedly,  it  is  the  essential  starting-point  in  Her-  '  \ 
metic  discipline  (or  philosophy),  is,  not  to  act  upon  ' ; 
the  conscience  through  any  of  the  passions,  hope,  '  i 
fear,  or  any  other  passion,  to  improve  man ;  but,  as  i  i 
far  as  possible,  allay  these  or  neutralize  them,  so  as  ]  i 
to  open  the  way  for  the  conscience  to  act  freely,  M 
and  according  to  its  own  essential,  heavenly  nature;  [  \ 
and  this,  then,  according  to  Pontanus,  "  will  do  the  1 1 
whole  work,  without  any  laying  on  of  hands."  \  \ 
Bernard  proceeds  to  enforce  his  view  :  —  '  ; 

"For  example:  —  they  who  defile  it  with  salts,  M 
vitriols,  and  aluminous  things,  do  destroy  it,  and 
change  it  into  some  other  thing  than  is  the  nature 
of  Quicksilver.  For  that  seed  which  Nature  by  its 
sagacity  composed,  they  endeavor  to  perfect  by 
violence,  which  undoubtedly  is  destructive  to  it,  so 

far  as  it  is  useful  and  effective  in  our  Work 

For  example  :  —  Fools  draw  corrosive  waters  from 
inferior  minerals  [pernicious  doctrines  from  inferior     \ 
teachers],  into  which  they  cast  the  species  of  metals,    { 


ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS.  189 

I  and   corrode  them :    for   they  think   that   they  are 
thereby  dissolved  with  a  natural  solution ;  but  this 
solution,  to  be  permanent,    requires  a  permanency 
of  the  dis solver  and  the  dissolved,  that  a  new  Seed 
may  result  from  both  the  masculine  and  feminine 
seed  [i.  e.  the  Soul  and  Body,  naturally  dissolved 
by  the  conscience,  which  belongs  to  them,  and  re- 
mains with  them,  are  prepared  for  a  new  birth  'in 
the  air,'  that  is,  the  Spirit].     I  tell  you  assuredly," 
continues  Bernard,   "that  no    Water  dissolves   any 
metallic   species  by   a  natural   Solution,    save   that 
:  which  abides  wdth  them  in  matter  and  form,  and 
I'  which  the  metals  themselves,  being  dissolved,  can 
recongeal ;  which  happens  not  when  Aquaforts  are 
used,  which  do  rather  defile  the  compound,  that  is, 
i  the  Body  [i.  e.  the  man]  to  be  dissolved ;  neither  is 
that  water  proper  for   solutions,  which  abides  not 
i  with  them  in  their  coagulations,  and   finally  Mei'- 
I  cury  is  of  this  sort,  and   not  Aquaforts;    nor  that 
which  fools  imagine  to  be  a  limpid  and  diaphanous 
mercurial  water  :    for  if  they  divide  or  abstract  the 
I  homogeneity  of  Mercury,  how  can  the  first  propor- 
tion of  the  feminine  seed  consist  and  be  preserved? 
■  Because  Mercury  cannot  receive  congelation  with 
;  the  dissolved  Bodies,  neither  will  the  true  nature 
;  be  renovated   afterwards   in  the  administration  of 


190        ALCHEMY  AND  THE  ALCHEMISTS.  '  ' 

the  Art;    nay,  but  some  other  filthy  and  unprofit- ■  i 
able  thing." 

I  am  strongly  tempted  to  explain  a  point  here  \ 
hinted  at,  but  I  v^'ill  leave  it  to  be  discovered  by  J 
those  who  have  observed  the  temporary  effects  of*  ; 
mere  excitement  and  enthusiasm. 

"  Yet  thus  they  think  they  dissolve,  mistaking  j 
nature,  but  dissolve  not :  for  aquaforts  being  ab-  i  i 
stracted,  or  taken  away,  [the  external  causes  oflj 
excitement  being  removed,]  the  Body  becometh  '  i 
meltable  as  before,  and  that  water  abides  not  with,  j  i 
nor  subsists  in,  the  Body,  as  its  radical  moisture.fi 
The  Bodies  indeed  are  corroded,  but  not  dissolved;  |  i 
and  by  how  much  more  they  are  corroded,  they  j  i 
are  so  much  the  more  estranged  from  a  true  me-  | : 
tallic  [heavenly]  nature."  (■ 

The  Bodies  that  are  here  spoken  of  are  the  two  li 
constituents  of  man,  called  the  Soul  and  Body, 
commonly  supposed  to  be  well  known  by  their 
mere  names.  These  in  what,  for  convenience,  is 
called  their  natural  state,  —  not  that,  strictly  speak- 
ing, there  is  or  can  be  an  unnatural  state,  —  are 
supposed  to  be  at  feud  with  each  other  (Romans 
vii.  2,  3,)  and  in  order  to  their  being  brought  into 
unity,  amity,  peace,  and  concord,  the  doctrine  re- 
quires   that   the    man,    the    "compound,"    shall   be 


ALCHEMY  AND  THE  ALCHEMISTS.        191 

I  first  dissolved^  that  is,  humiliated  and  brought  into 
the   state   required    in    Scripture    (the   man   must 

.  become  as  a  little  child)  ;  but  this  must  be  done 
naturally,  and  by  an  agent  that  comes  from  the 
compound,  and  after  action  abides  naturally  in  it. 
This  agent  is  the  conscience,  and  no  other  element 
of  man,  such  as  his  passions,  his  hopes,  or  his  fears, 
for  these  are  called  aquaforts  and  corrosives^  and 
are  said  to  destroy  the  composition  instead  of  per- 

I  fecting  it ;  and  they  do  not  abide  with  it,  but  may 

i  fly   away   and    leave    a    "  filthy    and    unprofitable 
thing,"  instead  of  an  improved  or  perfected  man. 
This  is  the  doctrine,  right  or  wrong,  true  or  false, 

;  for  I  am  only  stating,  not  defending  it ;  and  this  is 

,  the  foundation  of  Hermetic  Philosophy ;  but,  as  I 
must  continue  to  interpose,  not  the  End  of  it. 

Bernard  is  here  enforcing  upon  his  friend,  Thomas 
of  Bononia,  "physician  to  King  Charles  the  Eighth," 

\  the  point  that  all  violent  action  upon  man  with  a 

.  view  to  his  improvement  is  injurious,  and  this  is  the 
doctrine  of  Plato :  not  but  that  the  safety  of  society 
may  require  the  use   of  violent  means  to  restrain 

;  criminals  who  disturb  its  peace,  but  in  this  case  the 
subjects  of  such  action  are  unfit  for  the  Work  which 

;  the  philosophic  humanitarian  aims  at.  So,  when  a 
man  is  humbled  through  his  pride,  and  cannot  say 


192        ALCHEMY  AND  THE  ALCHEMISTS.  I  ' 

with  Julius  in  Measure  for  Measure,  "  I  do  repent  i  j 
me  as  it  is  an  evil,  and  take  the  shame  with  joy,"  Li 
or  when  he  is  arrested  by  external  disappointments,  i  t 
he  is  not  in  a  proper  state  to  fulfil  the  condition  \  i 
required  by  philosophy  for  natural  and  permanent  1 1 
improvement,  but  he  is  driven  violently  out  of  the  '  ; 
true  channel  for  it. 

"  These  solutions,  therefore,"  continues  Bernard,  { i 
"  are  not  the  foundation  of  the  Art  of  Transmuta-  ) 
lion,  but  they  are  rather  the  impostures  of  sophis- 
tical Alchemists  [false  or  ignorant  teachers,  the 
erring  Alchemists  addressed  by  Jean  de  INIeung  in 
his  Remonstrance],  who  think  that  this  sacred  Art  is 
hid  in  them.  They  say,  indeed,  that  they  make 
solutions ;  but  they  cannot  make  perfect  metallic 
species,  because  they  do  not  naturally  remain  under 
the  first  proportion  or  nature  which  Mercury,  the 
water,  allows  in  metallic  species.  For  Mercury 
should  be  corrupted  [in  the  sense  of  John  xii.  24] 
by  way  of  alteration,  not  dissipation  ;  because  Bod- 
ies dissolved  therein  are  never  separated  from  it,  as 
in  Ac/uaforts  and  other  corrosives,  but  one  nature 
puts  on  and  hides  another,  retaining  it  secretly  and 
perfectly:  so,  Sol  and  Luna  dissolved,  are  secretly 
retained  in  it.  For  their  nature  is  hid  in  INIercury, 
even  unto  its  condensation,  of  which  they  lying  hid 


ALCHEMY    AND  THE    ALCHEMISTS.  193 

in  it  are  the  cause,  inasmuch  as  they  are  latent  in 
it:  and  as  Mercury  dissolves  them,  and  hides  them 
in  its  Belly,  so  they  also  congeal  it ;  and  what  was 
hard  is  made  soft,  what  was  soft,  hard  [it  is  the 
.  property  of  the  conscience  to  subdue  the  strong  and 
.  strengthen  the  weak] :  and  yet  the  nature,  that  is, 

metals  and    Quicksilver  abide  still So  the 

Lord  in  the  Gospel  speaks  by  way  of  similitude  of 
ii  vegetables,  Unless  a  grain  of  corn  fallen  on  earth  do 
\  die,  it  abides  alone ;  hut  if  it  die,  it  brings  forth  much 
fruit.  Therefore  this  alterative  corruption  hides 
forms,  perfects  natures,  preserves  proportions,  and 
changes  colors  [passions]  from  the  beginning  to  the 
end." 

If  the  reader  has  duly  weighed  and  understood 
'  the  method  described  by  Artephius  and  others,  in 
the  preceding  pages,  he  cannot  fail  to  see  the  drift 
of  this  doctrine  of  Bernard,  and  that  the  subject  of 
all  these  writers  is  one,  to  wit,  man,  and  the  object 
is  also  one,  to  wit,  his  improvement,  while  the 
method  is  no  less  one,  to  wit,  nature,  directed  by 
art  acquired  in  the  school  of  nature,  and  acting  in 
conformity  with  it ;  for  true  art  is  nothing  but 
"  nature  acting  through  man." 

But  here,  a;s  everywhere,  I  am  anxious  to  impress 
upon  the  reader  that  this,  so  far,  is  but  the  begin- 
17 


194  ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS.  | 


ning  or  "  base  "  of  the  "  Great  Work."  When  the  I 
man  is  by  a  due  process  and  without  violence  i 
brought  into  a  Unity  with  himself,  so  that  his  intel-  i 
lect  and  will  work  in  harmony,  he  is  prepared  to  S 
understand  that  higher  Unity  which  is  the  perfec-  i 
tion  of  the  whole  of  nature ;  for  w^iat  is  called  the  •  j 
"  absolute,"  the  "  absolute  perfection,"  and  the  per-  ] 
fection  of  nature,  are  one  and  the  same ;  which  can  t  i 
never  be  understood  except  by  a  process  in  nature }  fi 
itself  proper  to  it.  In  no  case  is  there  any  viola- 1 1 
tion  of  nature,  and,  as  these  writers  are  perpetually  j  i 
repeating,  "  men  do  not  gather  gi*apes  of  thorns,  or  S  , 
figs  of  thistles."  I 

The  whole  of  this  epistle  of  Bernard  is  a  grave 
discussion  upon  the  nature  of  man,  and  yet  it  is  all 
carried  on  in  the  symbolic  language,  no  doubt  per- 
fectly understood  by  the  adepts  of  the  time,  when 
those  who  used  the  language  had  opportunities  of 
personal  intercourse  in  which  full  explanations 
could  be  made  without  interruption  from  the  In- 
quisition or  its  emissaries. 

Occasionally  some  of  the  philosophers,  and  I 
take  it  not  the  best  of  them,  carried  away  not 
precisely  by  philosophy  (i.  e.  reason),  but  by  a  pas- 
sion or  enthusiasm  for  it,  spoke  too  openly,  and 
brought    themselves    into    danger,   and    many  fell 


ALCHEMY  AND  THE  ALCHEMISTS.        195 

,  victims  to  the  most  relentless  spirit  that  ever  dis- 
turbed the  world. 

Let  any  one,  with  the  above  explanations,  read 
the  epistle  of  Bernard  of  Treves,  the  "  good  Treyi- 
,  san,"  and  then  turn  to  that  farrago  of  nonsensical 
;  stories    collected   by  the   misemployed  industry  of 
:  Dr.  Mackay,  LL.  D.,  as  "  Memoirs  "  of  a  man  who 
,  spent  his  whole  life  in    the   pursuit   of  truth    and 
,  goodness,  and  he  must  be  struck  with  the  absurd 
position  of  the  historian. 
Dr.    Mackay   undertook   to   write    "  Memoirs   of 
;  Extraordinary  Popular  Delusions."     I  would  recom- 
mend that,  before  publishing  another  edition  of  his 
work,  he  would  endeavor  to  understand  the  delusion 
of  almost  the  whole  world  in  regard  to  the  object 
of  the  Alchemists,  in  which  he  himself  has  shared. 
The  Alchemists  themselves  were  under  no  delusion, 
but  were  the  philosophers  of  the  world  when  philos- 
i  ophy  could  not  speak  openly. 

f      To   show   the   necessity   of  esoteric  writing  we 
need  only  look  at  the  fate  of  Vanini,  and  Bruno, 
'  and  thousands  of  others,  burned  at  the   stake,  or 
j  otherwise  cruelly  destroyed,  by  the  ignorant  priest- 
hood of  the  time  ;  and  why  ?  because 

"  Out  of  their  heart's  fulness  they  needs  must  gabble, 
And  show  their  thoughts  and  feelings  to  the  rabble." 

{Brooks,  translation  of  Faust.) 


196        ALCHEMY  AND  THE  ALCHEMISTS. 

Of  Vanini,  Gorton  says  :  — 

"  Being  suspected  of  inculcating  atheistical  opin-    I 
ions,  he  was  denounced,  prosecuted,  and  condemned   i 
to   have  his  tongue   cut  out,   and   to   be  burnt  to'  ' 
death,  which  sentence  was  executed  February  19,i  ' 
1619.     At  his  trial,  so  far  from  denying  the  exist-  i 
ence  of  God,  he  took  up  a  straw,  and  said,  that  it   ; 
obliged  him  to  acknowledge  the  existence  of  one.'  ] 
Gramont,  President  of  the  Parliament  of  Toulouse,!  i 
gives  an  evidently  prejudiced  and  sophisticated  ac-i  i 
count  of  his  deportment  at  his  death,  where  it  seems!  '■ 
that,  on  refusing  to  put  out  his  tongue  for  the  exe-!  i 
cutioner  to  cut  it  off,  it  was  torn  from  his  mouth 
with   pincers,    such   being   the   Christianity   of  the 
French  District,  which  afterwards  got  up  the  trage- 
dy of  Galas.     He  suffered  this  cruel  punishment  in 
the  thirty-fourth  year  of  his  age.     Mosheim  remarks 
that  several  learned  and  respectable  writers  regard 
this  unhappy  man  rather  as  the  victim  of  bigotry 
and  prejudice   than    as    a   martyr   to   impiety  and 
atheism,  and  deny  that  his  writings  were  so  absurd 
or  so  impious  as  they  were  said  to  be." 

-Jordano  Bruno  was  burnt  at  the  stake  at  Venice 
in  the  year  1600.  After  his  arrest  he  was  allowed 
"  eighty  days,"  says  history,  "  to  retract  his  errors," 
but  refused  to  deny  his  opinions,  and  suffered  the 


ALCHEMY  AND  THE  ALCHEMISTS.        197 

fate  which  Galileo  escaped  by  admitting  that  the 
world  stood  still,  —  which  he  might  have  said  with 
a  clear  conscience  of  the  clerical  world  of  his  day, 
for  they  would  neither  advance  themselves,  nor 
were  they  disposed  to  allow  others  to  do  so. 

Bruno  addressed  one  of  his  works  to  Lord  Cas- 
telnau,  then  minister  from  the  French  government 
at  the  court  of  England,  in  which  he  says :  — 

"  If  I  had  held  the  plough,  most  illustrious  Lord, 
or  fed  a  flock,  or  cultivated  a  garden,  or  mended  old 
clothes,  none  would  distinguish  and  few  would  re- 
gard me ;  fewer  yet  would  reprehend  me,  and  I 
might  easily  become  agreeable  to  everybody.  But 
now,  for  describing  the  Field  of  Nature ;  for  being 
solicitous  about  the  posture  of  the  Soul ;  for  being 
curious  about  the  improvement  of  the  understand- 
ing, and  for  showing  some  skill  about  the  faculties 
of  the  mind :  one  man,  as  if  I  had  an  eye  to  him, 
does  menace  me ;  another,  for  being  only  observed, 
does  assault  me ;  for  coming  near  this  man,  he  bites 
me ;  and  for  laying  hold  of  that  other,  he  devours 
me.  'T  is  not  one  who  treats  me  in  this  manner, 
nor  are  they  a  few ;  they  are  many,  and  almost  all. 

"  If  you  would  know  whence  this  doth  proceed, 
my  Lord,  the  true  reason  is,  that  I  am  displeased 
with  the  bulk  of  mankind ;  I  hate  the  vulgar  rout ; 
17* 


198        ALCHEMY  AND  THE  ALCHEMISTS. 


I  despise  the  authority  of  the  multitude,  and  am  ■  \ 
enamored  with  one  particular  Lady.     'T  is  for  her  \-i 
that  I  am  free  in  servitude,  content  in  pain,  rich  in  !  i 
necessity,   and  alive  in  death ;    and  therefore  't  is  M 
likewise   for   her   that    I  envy  not  those  who    are  ,  i 
slaves  in  the  midst  of  liberty,  who  suffer  pain  in  |  i 
their  enjoyment  of  pleasure,  who  are  poor  though  j  I 
overflowing  with  riches,  and  dead  when  they  are  \  \ 
reputed  to  live :    for  in  their  body  they  have   the  \  i 
chain  that  pinches  them,  and  in  their  judgment  the  i  \ 
lethargy  that  kills  them  ;   having  neither  generosity  j  j 
to    undertake,    nor    perseverance    to    succeed,    norjj 
splendor   to   illustrate   their   names.      Hence  it  is,   j 
even  for  my  passion  for  this  Beauty,  that,  as  being  j  j 
weary,  I  draw  not  back  my  feet  from  the  difficult 
road,  nor,  as  being  lazy,  hang  down  my  hands  from 
the  work  that  is  before  me ;  I  turn  not  my  shoul- 
ders, as  grown  desperate,  to   the  enemy  that  con- 
tends   with   me;  nor,   as   dazzled,    divert   my   eyes 
from  the  divine  object. 

"  In  the  mean  time  I  know  myself  to  be  for  the 
most  part  accounted  a  Sophister,  more  desirous  to 
appear  subtle,  than  to  be  really  solid ;  an  ambitious 
fellow,  that  studies  rather  to  set  up  a  new  and  false 
sect,  than  to  confirm  the  ancient  and  true  doctrine; 
a  deceiver,  that  aims   at  purchasing  brightness  to 


ALCHEMY    AXD    THE    ALCHEMISTS.  199 

his  own  fame,  by  engaging  others  in  the  darkness 
of  error ;  a  restless  spirit,  that  overturns  the  edifice 
of  sound  discipline,  and  makes  himself  a  founder 
of  some  hut  of  perversity. 

"  But,  my  Lord,  so  may  all  the  holy  deities  de- 
liver me  from  those  that  unjustly  hate  me ;  so  may 
my  own  God  be  ever  propitious  to  me ;  so  may  the 
governors  of  this  our  globe  show  me  their  favor ;  so 
may  the  stars  furnish  me  with  such  a  seed  for  the 
field,  and  such  a  field  for  the  seed,  that  the  world 
may  reap  the  useful  and  glorious  fruit  of  my  labor, 
by  awakening  the  genius  and  opening  the  under- 
standing of  such  as  are  deprived  of  sight :  so  may 
all  these  things  happen,  I  say,  as  it  is  most  certain 
that  I  neither  feign  nor  pretend.  If  I  err,  I  am  far 
from  thinking  that  I  do  so ;  and  whether  I  speak  or 
write,  I  dispute  not  for  the  love  of  victory  (for  I 
look  upon  all  reputation  and  conquest  to  be  hateful 
to  God,  —  to  be  most  vile  and  dishonorable, — 
without  Truth) ;  but,  't  is  for  the  love  of  true  Wis- 
dom, and  by  the  studious  admiration  of  this  mis- 
tress, that  I  fatigue,  that  I  disquiet,  that  I  torment 
myself." 

This  is  the  spirit  which  the  Inquisition  and  the 
power  of  all  the  governments  in  Europe  was  em- 
ployed for  many  centuries  in   endeavoring  to  sup- 


200  ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS. 


press ;  and  is  it  surprising  that  it  should  force  into  !  i 
existence  secret  societies  and  mysterious  modes  of  ;  i 
intercourse  among  those  who,  like  Eyrenseus  (Cos-  ,  ' 
mopolita),  were,  as  he  says,  "  tossed  up  and  down,  i 
and,  as  it  were,  beset  with  furies;  nor  can  we,"  ; 
says  he,  "  suppose  ourselves  safe  in  any  one  place  i 
long.  We  travel  through  many  countries  just  like  i 
vagabonds.  Once  I  was  forced  to  fly  by  night,  1 
with  exceeding  great  trouble,  having  changed  my  t 
garments,  shaved  my  head,  put  on  false  hair,  and  i  i 
altered  my  name,  else  I  had  fallen  into  the  hands  '  : 
of  wicked  men  that  lay  in  wait  for  me,"  —  mere- 
ly, he  tells  us,  because  a  ^^ rumor  had  spread"  that 
he  was  in  possession  of  the  Elixir;  —  which  meant, 
in  this  esoteric  account  he  gives  of  his  persecutions, 
that  he  was  "  suspected,"  like  Aponus,  of  entertain- 
ing opinions  adverse  to  the  superstition  of  the  time. 
See  the  thirteenth  chapter  of  Secrets  Revealed,  or 
an  Open  Way  to  the  Shut  Palace  of  the  King^ 
which  now,  in  this  age,  may  be  interpreted,  an 
open  way  to  the  knowledge  of  God. 

This  work  was  written  by  Eyrenseus  Philalethes 
(Cosmopolita),  and  Dr.  Mackay  gravely  informs  us, 
as  a  precious  item  of  actual  history,  that  he  kept 
some  "  philosophic  powder  in  a  little  gold  box," 
with  "  one  grain  (?)  of  which  he  could  make  five 


ALCHEMY  AND  THE  ALCHEMISTS.        201 

hundred  ducats,  or  a  thousand  rix  dollars "  ;  that 
"he  generally  made  his  projection  upon  Quicksil- 
i'er,"  —  with   many   more   absurdities. 

Eyreneeus  no  doubt  made  his  projections  upon 
Quicksilver ;  that  is,  he  sought  to  improve  man 
through  his  conscience,  as  knowing  that,  "when 
that  is  safe,  all  is  safe ;  but  that  lost,  all  is  lost." 

Everywhere  in  this  secret  philosophy  we  meet 
with  the  same  doctrine,  which  may  be  expressed  in 
the  very  brief  sentences.  Be  just,  be  honest,  be  true, 
be  faithful ;  Keep  thy  heart  with  all  diligence,  for 
out  of  it  are  the  issues  of  life. 

Dr.  Mackay,  in  his  sketch  of  Arnold  de  Villa  No- 
va, a  great  name  among  the  Alchemists,  says :  — 

"  In  a  very  curious  work  by  Monsieur  Longeville 
Harcouet,  entitled.  The  History  of  Persons  who 
have  lived  several  Centuries  and  then  groion  young 
again^  there  is  a  receipt  said  to  have  been  given  by 
Arnold  de  Villaneuve,  by  means  of  which  any  one 
might  prolong  his  life  for  a  few  hundred  years  or 
so.  In  the  first  place,  say  Arnold  and  Monsieur 
Harcouet,  'the  person  intending  so  to  prolong  his 
life  must  rub  himself  well,  two  or  three  times  a 
week,  with  the  juice  or  marrow  of  Cassia  (moelle 
de  la  casse).  [Formerly,  gentle  reader,  cassia  was 
medicinally  used  as  a  purgative,  and  here  signifies 


202        ALCHEMY  AND  THE  ALCHEMISTS. 


1  t 

1 


that  cleansing  process  of  which  all  of  the  Alche-  i 
mists  write,  a  moral  but  not  a  physical  cleansing.  < 
The  receipt  then  proceeds:]  Every  night  upon  ' 
going  to  bed,  he  must  put  upon  his  Heart  a  plas-  i 
ter  [this  was  indeed  a  funny  way  to  make  gold!  a  j  ) 
plaster]  composed  of  a  certain  quantity  [doubtless  ■ 
the  exact  size  of  "a  piece  of  chalk"]  of  Oriental 
saffron,  red  rose-leaves,  sandal-wood,  aloes,  and  am-  i 
ber,  liquefied  in  oil  of  roses,  and  the  best  white  wax.  !  c. 
In  the  morning  he  must  take  it  off  and  enclose  it  1  I 
carefully  in  a  leaden  box  till  the  next  night,  when  |  i 
it  must  be  again  applied.'  "  j  '■ 

Jt  never  occurred  to  Dr.  Mackay,  that  whoever 
would  live  happily,  and  prosperously,  and  healthily 
too,  must  go  to  bed  with  a  pure  heart,  which  also 
must  be  carefully  preserved  during  the  day. 

This  was  the  language  by  which  men  communi- 
cated with  each  other  all  over  Europe,  and  encour- 
aged each  other  to  live  honestly,  when,  in  the  public 
estimation,  it  was  necessary  rather  to  say  a  "  cer- 
tain "  number  of  masses,  and  contribute  largely  to 
an  ignorant,  debauched,  and  wicked  priesthood, 
armed  with  the  civil  power  to  crush  all  opposition 
to  the  tyranny  by  which  they  enslaved  the  whole 
population  of  Europe. 

Has  it  no  interest  for  this  age  to  look  back  a  few 


ALCHEMY  AND  THE  ALCHEMISTS.        203 

hundred  years,  and  see  the  shifts  to  which  men  \Yere 
obliged  to  resort  for  the  privilege  of  living  with 
simple  honesty  ?  and  is  it  surprising  that  this  great 
privilege  should  be  so  highly  exalted,  and  described 
as  a  stone  of  great  price,  —  the  Philosopher's  Stone  ? 
What  shall  a  man  give  in  exchange  for  his  soul? 
or  what  doth  it  profit  a  man,  if  he  shall  gain  the 
whole  world,  and  yet  live  in  a  state  of  self-con- 
demnation ? 

The  times  are  changed  now,  and  it  should  be 
openly  declared  that  the  Alchemists  were  not  the 
fools  their  foolish  and  silly  literal  readers  have  taken 
them  for ;  but  they  were  the  wise  men  of  their 
times,  who  couched  their  wisdom  in  "  dark  say- 
ings," calculated  purposely  to  mystify  and  deceive 
those  who  needed  the  "  hangman's  whip "  to  hold 
them  in  order,  and  no  less  to  delude  and  elude  the 
hangman  too,  who  knew  not  how  to  discriminate 
between  the  true  man  and  the  false. 

The  times,  I  say,  are  wonderfully  changed,  and 
men  can  now  declare  their  opinions  openly  and 
freely,  if  only  it  be  done  with  decency  and  sincerity. 
Swedenborg,  though  he  felt  the  convenience  of  writ- 
ing mystically,  said  that  God  is  a  man;  Fichte 
says  man  is  a  God,  while  Hegel  says  both  are  one. 
Comte  publishes  works  of  almost  professed  Athe- 


204        ALCHEMY  AND  THE  ALCHEMISTS. 

ism,  and  Feuerbach  openly  discusses  the  dogma 
that  Theology  is  Anthropology.  Some  few  read 
these  books  and  take  interest  in  them  or  throw 
them  aside,  according  to  their  taste  or  genius,  while 
some  spectators  look  on  and  see  in  these  various 
efforts  only  the  struggles  of  speculative  men  labor- 
ing to  solve  the  mysterious  problem  of  man,  the 
Sphynx  of  the  universe.  None  of  these  efforts,  their 
authors  being  left  alone,  have  disturbed  the  order 
of  events  :  the  sun  rises  and  sets  as  before ;  seed- 
time and  harvest  have  their  due  returns ;  and  it  is 
generally  acknowledged  that  the  trouble  about  free 
opinions  has  arisen  simply  from  the  vain  attempt 
violently  to  interfere  with  and  suppress  them.  The 
opinion  of  the  "sage  of  Monticello  "  is  now  almost  \i 
universally  received,  that  error  is  not  dangerous  so  |  \ 
long  as  reason  is  left  free  to  combat  it.  j/^ 

The  real  interest  of  man  must  be  regarded  as  a  | 
power  ever  at  work  to  secure  itself;  and  this  interest 
must  for  ever  be  opposed  to  whatever  is  false  and 
mischievous,  and  must  perpetually  be  employed  in 
discovering  and  establishing  the  true,  since  herein 
alone  is  the  true  interest  of  man  to  be  found. 

Bishop  Sherlock  said  that  Christianity  was  as  old 
as  the  creation,  and  that  the  Gospel  was  a  re- 
publication of  the  Law  of  Nature.     Most  likely  it 


ALCHEMY  AND  THE  ALCHEMISTS.        205 

was  a  similar  idea  that  led  the  Alchemists  to  claim 
'  that  their  Art  was  as  old  as  the  world ;  which  can 
:  only  mean  that  man  from  the  earliest  time  must 
'  always  have  been  interested  in  himself,  and  anxious 
:  to  discover  "what  was  that  good  for  the  sons  of 
[  men,  which  they  should  do  under  the  heaven  all  the 
:  days  of  their  life."    (Eccles.  ii.  3.)     "  The  Preacher" 
'  concluded  that  the  whole  duty  of  man  is  comprised 
f  in  the  injunction  to  fear  God  and  obey  the  com- 
mandments ;  and  this  has  been  echoed  in  all  parts 
of  the  world,  and  in  all  ages.     What,  then,  is  to  be 
understood  by  the  commandments  of  God  ?     When 
the    Preacher   announced  this  law,  the  command- 
ments  in   the    New    Testament   had   neither  been 
written  nor  declared,  and  when  the  new  dispensa- 
tion was  announced,  it  is  conceded  on  all  hands 
that  some  portion,  at  least,  of  the  ceremonial  Law 
of  the  Old  Testament  was  abrogated.     Christ  has 
told  us  that  the  whole  Law  and  the  Prophets  is 
comprised  in  the  love  of  God  and  of  our  neighbor; 
—  God,  with  all  our  might  and  strength  and  soul, 
and  our  neighbor  as  ourself.     By  placing  these  in- 
junctions side  by  side,  we  may  see  that  the  fear  of 
God  must  be  consistent  with  the  love  of  God,  and 
if  we  are  to  love  God  with  all  our  heart,  our  love 
of  our  neighbor  must  be  included  in  it.     It  is  but 

18 


206       ALCHEMY  AND  THE  ALCHEMISTS. 


trifling,  however,  to  be  critical  about  words,  when 
we  should  be  considering  things. 

There  has  been  suggested  a  distinction  between  a    j 
law  and  a  command  of  God,  which  seems  impor-  j : 
tant.     The  Laws  of  Nature  are  by  some  regarded  ji 
as  the  eternal  decrees  of  God,  and,  though  unwrit-  I ' 
ten,  are  the  only  certain  measure  of  the  commands  \i 
of  God.     The  commands  may  be  either  verbal  or  \\ 
written.     We  have  them  as  they  were  written  by  jl 
men  as  they  were  moved  by  the  Holy  Spirit.     The 
La^vs  always  become  known  to  us  coupled  with 
conditions ;  as,  —  to  draw  an  example  from  physical 
nature,  —  if  an  organic  substance  be  subjected  to 
fire,  it  shall  be  destroyed.     This  is  the  law,  and  the 
form  of  a  command  to  protect  us  from  it  w^ould 
interdict  us  from  such  exposure. 

These  two  formulas,  one  of  a  law  and  the  other 
of  a  command,  whether  in  regard  to  physical  or 
moral  nature,  may  be  thought  to  embrace  or  extend, 
theoretically,  to  all  things  by  which  man  may  be 
affected.  From  the  nature  of  the  case,  a  command 
always  presupposes  a  law,  and  may  always  be  re- 
ferred to  it  and  tested  by  it.  This  is  what  I  under- 
stand by  testing  all  doctrines  by  the  "  possibility  of 
nature."  All  commands  must  be  supposed  given 
for  our  benefit,  and  have  in  view  either  to  secure  to 


ALCHEMY  AND  THE  ALCHEMISTS.        207 

US  some  good,  or  to  protect  us  from  some  evil,  and 
in  either  case  because  of  some  law,  which,  as  the 
eternal  decree  of  God,  must  be,  like  the  nature  of 
God,  unalterable.  We  may  disobey  a  command, 
but  we  cannot  violate  a  law.  If  we  disobey  a 
command  really  founded  on  a  law,  we  necessarily 
suffer  the  penalty  of  the  law ;  which  is  only  saying 
that  the  course  of  nature  never  alters.  If,  now,  we 
construe  the  fear  or  the  love  of  God  as  having  refer- 
ence to  the  Law,  we  may  clearly  see,  theoretically, 
the  importance  of  the  text,  that  all  things  work 
together  for  good  to  them  that  love  God;  that  is, 
to  those  who  love  God's  Law,  and  keep  it  in  their 
hearts,  that  is,  in  their  conscience,  which  perpetually 
"  bears  witness." 

On  this  ground  we  may  see  the  beauty  of  that 
exquisite  little  volume  published  or  brought  into 
notice  by  Luther,  Theologia  Germania,  in  which  we 
read  that  obedience  to  God  is  the  only  virtue ;  dis- 
obedience, the  only  sin ;  —  at  least,  this  is  what  I 
understand  by  testing  doctrine  also  by  "  the  possi- 
bility of  nature." 

So  far  as  man  can  know  the  Laiv,  the  command 
based  upon  it  will  always .  seem  reasonable  and 
divine,  and  will  find  its  sanction  in  the  knowledge 
of  the  Law ;  and  if  "  to  keep  the  commandments  " 


208        ALCHEMY  AND  THE  ALCHEMISTS. 

means  to  observe  the  Law^  there  can  be  no  question 
as  to  our  interest  in  it,  and  just  as  little,  with  those 
who  love  God,  of  its  imperative  obligation ;  but  in 
the  latter  case  only  will  the  obedience  be  free,  the 
will  being  subject  to  reason ;  for  the  freedom  of 
man  does  not  lie  in  his  will,  which  is  blind,  but  in 
its  subordination  to  reason  and  conscience. 

But  where  the  Law  is  not  known,  —  the  condi- 
tion of  nearly  all  mankind,  and,  as  to  some  laws, 
of  the  whole  of  mankind,  —  every  man  must  more 
or  less  act  under  constraint  and  be  subject  to  a  sec- 
ondary power  expressed  verbally  or  in  writing. 

Now,  when  the  commands  are  deemed  to  be  first 
in  order,  and  the  test  of  nature  instead  of  being 
tested  by  nature,  and  are  urged  as  imperative  inde- 
pendently of  all  reference  to  the  Law,  and  when, 
too,  all  inquiries  as  to  the  latter  are  interdicted, — 
this  implies  a  state  of  hopeless  intellectual  slavery, 
which  the  Law  of  Nature  avenges  in  her  own  way 
by  the  evils  of  which  we  read  in  past  ages  where 
this  absurd  principle  has  prevailed. 

Yet  for  those  who  do  not  or  cannot  satisfy  them- 
selves as  to  the  Law,  it  seems  but  mere  prudence 
for  them  to  observe  the  commands,  if,  only,  these 
can  be  known,  it  being  a  mere  common-sense 
presumption  that  they  must  originally  have  been 


ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS.  209 

grounded  upon  experience  and  observation,  espe- 
cially when  they  have  been  the  object  of  reverence 
for  ages. 

As  most  men,  from  the  condition  of  the  world, 
the  claims  of  labor  for  sustenance,  &c.,  are  pre- 
cluded from  seeking  a  knowledge  of  many  of  the 
laws  under  the  influence  of  which  they  neverthe- 
less live,  it  seems  altogether  necessary  that  they 
should  have  the  benefit  of  past  experience,  as  ex- 
pressed in  the  commands,  and  hence  it  appears  as  a 
wrong  to  them  to  withdraw  their  reverence  from  it, 
and  thus  loosen  its  hold  over  them,  exposing  them 
thereby  to  manifold  dangers. 

This  I  take  to  be  the  real  and  permanent  ground 
for  a  Hermetic  or  Secret  Philosophy,  through  which 
men  who  have  leisure  may  prosecute  their  inquiries 
into  nature,  and  communicate  their  discoveries  and 
opinions  to  each  other,  holding  them  always  subject 
to  correction  by  the  "  higher  Law,"  which  is  never 
to  be  denied. 

(  Hermetic  Philosophy  does  not  differ  from  philos- 
ophy in  general,  both  having  in  view  the  discovery 
of  nature,  except  that  the  former  has  been  confined 
to  those  inquiries  which  relate  more  especially  to 
the  moral  conduct  of  man ;  but  here,  the  results  of 
this  philosophy  may  not  differ  practically  from  those 

18* 


210        ALCHEMY  AND  THE  ALCHEMISTS. 

depending  upon  traditional  commands,  the  only- 
difference  being  in  the  nature  of  the  Sanction.  The 
Hermetic  Philosopher  obeys  the  command  because 
he  knows  the  Law,  —  and  he  requires  no  other 
authority, — just  as  he  keeps  out  of  the  fire,  as  soon 
as  he  knows  its  nature ;  but  those  who  are  ignorant 
of  the  Law  are  moved  by  the  authority  of  tradition, 
or  they  are  influenced  by  hope  or  fear,  or  by  some 
other  passion. 

It  is  manifest  that  he  who  knows  the  Law  has, 
in  that  knowledge  alone,  an  inexpressibly  valuable 
treasure ;  for  he  obeys  freely  what  is  called  reason, 
which  is  nothing  else  but  a  knowledge  of  the  Law, 
and  this  again  is  the  knowledge  of  God,  all  natural 
laws  being  the  eternal  decrees  of  God,  known  and 
acknowledged  as  such,  from  which  it  is  impossible 
to  seduce  them.  Now  the  Law  of  Conscience  being 
the  Law  of  God  in  the  soul  of  man,  obedience  to  it, 
when  truly  known,  becomes  of  the  first  importance 
for  all  men,  no  matter  under  what  circumstances 
they  may  be  placed ;  for  man  cari  never  be  placed 
under  conditions  which  release  him  from  either  its 
presence  or  its  authority. 

But  the  knowledge  of  Law  in  general  must 
always  be  limited,  and  the  Hermetic  Philosopher 
must   always    consider    himself    as    engaged   in   a 


ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS.  211 

never-ending  pursuit,  though  a  pursuit  ever  leading 
him  cheerfully  onward  in  proportion  to  the  sincer- 
ity and  earnestness  of  his  efforts. 

Every  man  who  enters  upon  this  pursuit,  that  is, 
who  seeks  knowledge  by  a  direct  study  of  nature, 
disowning  the  claims  of  mere  tradition,  must  pre- 
pare, as  Espagnet  says,  to  make  a  long  journey ; 
for,  indeed,  he  enters  upon  an  endless  task,  in  the 
prosecution  of  which,  however,  he  will  continually 
find  pleasure  and  satisfaction,  so  long  as  his  en- 
deavors are  guided  exclusively  by  a  conscientious 
regard  for  the  Truth,  that  is,  for  true  Wisdom, — 
the  Lady  so  passionately  loved  by  Bruno,  who  pre- 
ferred being  burned  at  the  stake  to  denying  his 
Love.  He  must  never,  for  an  instant,  depart  from 
this  principle ;  for,  if  he  does,  he  must  infallibly  lose 
his  way,  and  may  find  his  return  next  to  impossi- 
ble. Hence  the  perpetual  cautions  of  the  Alche- 
mists, to  wash  and  cleanse  the  matter  of  which  the 
Stone  is  to  be  made,  since  whatever  other  light  be 
followed,  traditionary  authority  being  neglected, 
will  necessarily  prove  an  ignis  faiuus,  which  in  the 
end  will  abandon  those  who  depend  upon  it. 

Here  is  the  secret  of  all  those  lamentations  over 
the  vanities  of  this  world,  as  riches,  honors,  and 
pleasures ;   not  because  these  things  are  wrong  in 


212       ALCHEMY  AND  THE  ALCHEMISTS. 

themselves,  but  because  they  are  allowed  the  fore- 
most place  in  the  affections,  to  the  suppression  or 
exclusion  of  the  divine  Law  of  the  Conscience. 
/  It  can  hardly  be  said  that  there  is  a  doctrine  of 
Hermetic  Philosophy ;  it  is  properly  a  practice^  and 
it  is  the  practice  of  truth,  justice,  goodness,  or,  in 
one  time-honored,  word,  virtue ;  the  End  being  dis- 
closed in  the  experience  of  the  adept,  but  with  the 
continued  presence  of  self-approbation,  provided 
this  be  under  no  circumstances  compromised. 

It  was  no  doubt  in  view  of  this,  that  Sandivo- 
gius  was  led  to  express  the  opinion,  that  "many 
men  of  good  consciences  and  affections  secretly 
enjoy  this  gift  of  God";  for,  it  must  be  admitted, 
and  it  is  worthy  of  all  thankfulness,  that  every  truly 
upright  man  must  live,  to  the  extent  of  his  fidelity 
to  the  Law  of  God,  under  a  sense  of  God's  appro- 
bation ;  which  may  be  as  good  a  definition  of  the 
Philosopher's  Stone  as  we  need  have.  Merely 
learned  men  should  know  that  they  have  no  pre- 
scriptive or  exclusive  right  to  God's  approval,  but 
that  this  is  the  meed  only  of  the  honest  man, 
whether  he  be  clothed  in  silken  robes  or  in  the 
humblest  apparel  of  the  poor.  This  is  the  Elixir 
and  the  Water  of  Life,  and  the  medicine  so  much 
talked   of    under   the    name   of   the    Philosopher's 


ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS.  213 

Stone,  —  at   least,   practically    considered  ;    though 

1  theoretically  it  may  point  to  a  special  knowledge 
of  1,  2,  3,  and  1,  not  to  be  expressed  in  words. 

This  being  so,  we  may  understand  why  all  of 
the  writers  say  that  the  profane  cannot  share  it; 
for,  in  so  far  as  a  man  departs  from  truth  and  recti- 
tude, he  departs  from  paradise. 

I  It  is  a  special  distinction  of  this  philosophy,  that 
it  does  not  waste  its  strength  upon  insoluble  prob- 
lems as  to  either  the  origin  or  the  destiny  of  man ; 
but,  taking  man  as  he  is,  it  seizes  upon  the  heart 
and  conscience,  and  burying  itself  there,  as  it  were, 
it  lives  altogether  in  the  effort  to  purify  and  perfect 
this  source  of  the  issues  of  Life. 

It  need  not  be  imagined  that  such  a  doctrine 
addresses  itself  to  human  pride,  and  power,  and 
presupposes  an  independent  ability  in  man  to  sus- 
tain and  support  himself.     A  very  slight  acquaint- 

,  ance  with  this  philosophy  will  show  the  contrary, 
and  will  teach  the  student  that  all  power  is  in  God, 

j  which  contains  the  power  of  man,  just  as  the  love 
of  God  contains  the  love  of  man.  The  power  of 
man  is  defined  by  his  knowledge  of  God,  —  his 
acceptance  of  it,  and  his  submission  to  it.  A  right 
view  of  this  Vvdll  explain  the  difference  between  the 
power  and  the  weakness  of  man,  the  former  being 


214        ALCHEMY  AND  THE  ALCHEMISTS. 

measured  by  reason,  and  the  latter  by  passion. 
Reason,  in  its  nature,  is  above  the  phenomenal 
man,  but  yet  not  foreign  to  the  whole  man,  and 
may  be  appropriated  by  a  due  submission  to  it, 
when,  then,  it  raises  man  to  itself,  his  proper  home ; 
which  I  understand  as  the  true  sense  of  1  Cor.  xv. 
43.  Passion,  on  the  other  hand,  it  has  been  well 
said,  manifests  the  weakness  of  man ;  for  through 
it  man  is  under  the  dominion  of  agencies  in  nature, 
acting  blindly  and  not  according  to  light.  Men 
under  such  influences  are  first  the  dupes  of  their 
own  passions,  and  are  then  prepared  to  be  the 
dupes  of  others. 

It  is  a  noble  proposition  in  a  work  not  yet  pub 
lished  in  English,  though  the  author  has  been  igno 
rantly  abused  in  good  modern  Saxon  for  some  two 
hundred  years,  that   "we  may  be   determined   by 
reason  alone  to  all  of  the  actions  to  which  we  are 
determined   by    a   passion."       (Prop.   59,    Part  4.) 
Some  men  under  the  influence  of  passion  do  the 
things  that  reason  sanctions,   and  which  therefore 
reason  itself  may  do ;   but  they  are,  by  this  author, 
only  called  actions^  as  distinguished  from  passions^ 
when  done  by  reason.     But  reason  never  sanctions 
any  mere  passion,  as  such ;   for  men  under  the  in 
fluence  of  passion,  even  when  externally  the  con 


j  ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS.  215 

;  duct  is  conformable  to  reason  and  virtue,  always 
act  blindly,  under  the  control  of  what  the  ancient 
Platonics  called  our  "  irascible "  nature,  as  some- 

:  thing  which  ought  to  be  "  amputated "  from  us. 
But  the  Alchemists  would  "  separate  "  nothing  from 

,  the  "•  matter "  proper  to  its  nature.  They  would 
have  everything  turned  (transmuted)  into  a  "  true 

'.  iSa//" ;  that  is,  converted  to  reason  through  the  con- 

I  science,  for  these  two  "  know  and  love  each  other." 

;  (John  Pontanus.) 

True  power  is  always  exercised  in  the  spirit  of 

,  Hamlet's  advice  to  the  players,  —  "  gently,  and  with 
a  certain  temperance  in  the  very  torrent,  tempest, 
and  whirlwind  of  passion."     The  passionless  man 

.  is  not  the  man  of  reason,  but  he  in  whom  the  pas-, 
sions  are  guided  by  reason,  that  is,  by  reason  and 
conscience ;  for,  as  in  God  these  are  one,  so  in  man 

.  they  should  perpetually  tend  to  union,  the  end  and 
aim   of  all   this   doctrine.     In   the   same   sense  in 

,  which  the  power  of  man  is  part  of  the  power  of 

I  God,  and  the  love  of  man  is  part  of  the  love  of 
God,  so  is  the  conscience  in  man  a  part  of  the 

,  justice  of  God ;  and  a  right  understanding  of  any 

I  one  of  these  will  explain  all. 

I  am  not  sure  but  that  I  ought  to  explain  more 


216  ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS. 

particularly  than  I  have  yet  done,  that  many  of  the  i" 

Alchemists,   in   their   works,   while    indicating  the  i^ 

subject  of  their  Art  in  their  obscure  way,  speak  of  i^ 

it   sometimes   as   one^   omitting    the   word    thing;  ,: 

then,  perhaps,  as  tico ;  then  as  three^  and  as /owr,  |j 

jj 

and  finally  3.s/ive ;  and  yet  affirm  that  there  is  no  h 

contradiction  in  this.     They  mean  by  owe,  the  one  i 

universal  or  absolute  existence,  what  Swedenborg  '^ 

and  some  other  writers  have  called  Substance.     By  ;• 

two  they  mean  the  macrocosm  and  microcosm;  or  |« 

they   mean   the   active   and   passive    principles   in  \;^ 

nature ;  or  they  mean  spirit  and  matter,  or   Soul  N 

and  Body,  &c.     By  th?'ee  they  add  to  the  two  prin-  jj 

ciples  a  third  as  the  tie  of  the  two,  which  is  really  i;! 

the  one,  which,  Vv-ith  the  two,  makes  their  trinity  of  :i 

principles,  3  in  1.      By  four  they   mean  the  four  \i 

so-called  elements,  earth,  water,  air,  and  fire,  as  if  i; 

all  things  in  nature  were  composed  of  these.     By  \] 

five  they  consider,  in  addition  to  the  four,  a  fifth,  or 

quintessence,  as  the  unity  of  the  whole. 

With  regard  to  the  four,  it  should  be  observed,  l- 

that  it  is  not  important  to  their  theory  that  there  ii 

should  be  just  four  elements,  and  no  more,  so  that  \\ 

the  modern  discoveries  of  many  so-called  elements  ij 

do  not  affect  their  theory;  for  they  all  saw  that  the  \\ 

so-called   four   elements  were   not   independent  of  : , 


ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS.  217 

each  other;  that  earth  contains  water,  and  water 
air,  &c. ;  and  in  fact  they  expressly  say  that  each 
contains  all  the  others,  in  varying  proportions.  By 
saying  that  their  subject  is  four,  they  only  mean  to 
direct  attention  to  nature,  though  they  study  na- 
ture in  or  through  man. 

Some  of  the  writers  speak  of  the  four  elements  as 

natures  capable  of  passing  one  into  another,  from 

the  observation  of  which  some  of  them   took  the 

hint   for   what   they   call   transmutation.      One    of 

ij  them  says  :  — 

"  Those  that  are  ignorant  of  the  causes  of  things 
may  wonder  with  astonishment,  when  they  consider 
that  the  world  is  nothing  but  a  continual  metamor- 
phosis ;  they  may  marvel  that  the  seeds  of  things 
perfectly  digested  should  end  in  perfect  whiteness. 
Let  the  philosopher  imitate  nature." 

This  circular  operation  of  nature  is  now  fully 
recofi^nized  bv  asfricultural  chemists. 

Mr.  Grove's  recent  announcement  of  his  propo- 
sition would  have  been  highly  acceptable  to  the 
Alchemists,  to  wit,  —  as  he  states  it  in  his  Corre- 
lation of  Physical  Forces  (3d  ed.,  1855,  page  15), — 
"  The  position  which  I  seek  to  establish  in  this 
Essay  is,  that  the  various  affections  of  matter  which 
constitute  the  main  objects  of  experimental  physics, 

19 


218  ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS. 


viz.  heat,  light,  electricity,  magnetism,  chemical  i  i 
affinity,  and  motion,  are  all  correlative,  or  have  a  i  ■■ 
reciprocal  dependence ;  that  neither,  taken  abstract-  i 
edly,  can  be  said  to  be  the  essential  cause  of  the  ij 
others,  but  that  either  may  produce,,  or  be  convert-  \  i 
ible  into,  any  of  the  others :  thus  heat  may  medi-  i  \ 
ately  or  immediately  produce  electricity  ;  electricity  ,  i 
may  produce  heat ;  and  so  of  the  rest,  each  merging  ;  i 
itself  as  the  force  it  produces  becomes  developed:  jl 
and  that  the  same  must  hold  good  of  other  forces,  it 
being  an  irresistible  inference  from  observed  phenom- 
ena, that  a  force  cannot  originate  otherwise  than  by 
devolution  from  some  pre-existing  force  or  forces." 
On  page  13  Mr.  Grove  says,  that  "  The  actual 
priority  of  cause  to  effect  has  been  doubted,  and 
their  simultaneity  argued  with  much  ability." 

This  was  undoubtedly  the  opinion  of  the  Alche- 
mists, and  was  applied  by  them  to  that  experience 
which  in  the  Sacred  Scriptures  is  called  the  new 
birth,  — by  them  symbolized  under  the  figure  of  the 
transmutation  of  metals,  which  they  all  speak  of  as 
one  ojjeration.  They  illustrate  it  by  the  mingling  of 
sugar  wdth  water,  in  which  operation,  if  it  be  said 
that  water  changes  the  sugar,  with  the  same  reason 
it  may  be  said  that  the  sugar  changes  the  water; 
and  that  there  "  is  but  one  operation  of  both."     A 


ALCHEMY  AND  THE  ALCHEMISTS.        219 

right  conception  of  this  will  show  how  they  consid- 
ered the  Love  of  God  as  one  (thing),  and  that  this 
Love  is  the  same,  whether  regarded  as  the  Love  of 
God  for  man  or  the  Love  of  man  /or  God ;  the 
realization  of  which  is  the  end  of  the  "  Work." 

This  notion  may  seem  ridiculous,  but  those  who 
study  Hermetic  Philosophy  will  find  it  to  be  a  true 
exposition  of  the  doctrine,  whether  the  doctrine 
itself  be  true  or  not. 

It  may  be  desired  that  some  account  of  the  books 
of  the  Alchemists  should  be  given  beyond  what  is 
to  be  drawn  from  the  extracts  I  have  made  from 
some  few  of  their  writings ;  but  this  cannot  be  done 
in  a  brief  space,  and  I  fear  that  my  remarks  have 
already  been  extended  too  far.  If  any  one  should 
desire  to  see  an  enumeration  of  their  works,  they 
may  consult  the  third  volume  of  Du  Fresnoy's  His- 
toire  de  la  Pliilosophie  Hermetique^  where  nearly  a 
thousand  authors  are  named ;  and  we  may  readily 
suppose  that  a  large  number  must  necessarily  have 
been  omitted.  Of  these,  it  would  be  idle  to  imagine 
that  the  whole  can  have  value,  even  supposing  the 
Hermetic  Philosophy  a  substantial  reality.  If,  from 
the  large  number  of  authors  upon  the  subject,  a 
small   number  could   be    selected   w^ith  judgment, 


220  ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS. 

and  the  remainder  destroyed,  there  would  be  less 
difficulty  in  ascertaining  the  true  ground  of  pro- 
cedurCj  and  the  nature  and  extent  of  the  results 
might  be  more  easily  estimated. 

In  the  Chronological  Table  of  some  of  the  most 
distinguished  Chemists  (Alchemists  or  Hermetic 
Philosophers),  Du  Fresnoy  enumerates  ten  before 
Christ.  After  Christ,  and  down  to  A.  D.  1000,  he 
enumerates  twenty-one,  after  which  period  the  num- 
ber increases  rapidly :  in  the  eleventh  century  he 
names  five ;  in  the  twelfth  century,  only  three ;  but 
in  the  thirteenth  century,  eleven ;  in  the  fourteenth 
century,  fifteen ;  in  the  fifteenth  century,  seventeen ; 
in  the  sixteenth  century,  thirty ;  and  in  the  seven- 
teenth century,  sixty-seven.  But  in  this  list  a  vast 
number  of  anonymous  authors  must  have  been 
omitted. 

It  is  remarkable  that  Plato,  in  his  Seventh  Let- 
ter^ notwithstanding  he  wrote  a  great  deal  himself, 
says,  that  "the  truth  with  respect  to  "Nature" 
"lies  in  the  smallest  compass,"  and  is  of  such  a 
character,  that  "  there  is  no  fear  that  any  one  will 
ever  forget  it,  who  has  once  comprehended  it  by 
the  soul";  —  which  may  console  some  of  us  when 
we  feel  how  impossible  it  is  to  read  all  the  books 
in  the  world!     Plato   has  taken  care  to  point  out 


ALCHEMY  AND  THE  ALCHEMISTS.        221 

the  difference  between  the  truth  as  it  is  in  the 
soul,  and  the  word,  as  it  is  \vritten ;  as  we  may  see 
in  many  places  in  his  Dialogues,  but  especially 
towards  the  conclusion  of  Phcedrus. 

If  all  the  books  in  the  world  were  to  be  de- 
stroyed, the  nature  of  man  would  reproduce  them,  or 
replace  them  with  others  of  similar  character ;  and 
as  he  who  values  the  creature  before  the  Creator 
inverts  the  order  of  things,  so  he  who  prizes  human 
works  before  the  spirit  in  which  they  have  their 
birth  commits  the  same  error. 

The  Alchemists,  or  Hermetic  Philosophers,  appear 
to  have  been  students  of  Plato.  They  quote  Aris- 
totle indeed  frequently,  but  it  is  not  certain  always 
that  they  refer  to  known  works  of  Alexander's 
teacher,  for  it  is  well  understood  that  many  al- 
chemical works  were  written  under  assumed  names, 
or  were  attributed  to  men  who  had  attained  celeb- 
rity in  the  world.  A  saying  of  Aristotle's  in  regard 
to  one  of  his  works  —  that  it  was  published  and 
not  published,  referring  to  its  Hermetic  or  Esoteric 
character  —  might  possibly  have  induced  some  of 
the  symbol-writers  of  a  later  age  to  affix  his  name 
to  their  works.  Be  this  as  it  may,  my  reason  for 
supposing  that  the  Alchemists  were  students  of 
Plato  is  not  so  much   derived  from  references  di- 

19* 


222        ALCHEMY  AND  THE  ALCHEMISTS. 

rectly  to  the  writings  of  Plato,  as  to  similitude  of 
doctrine  in  some  important  points. 

The  Alchemists  never  name  their  subject  directly ; 
or,  when  they  do  so,  they  tell  us  that  it  is  to  de- 
ceive the  profane,  as  when  they  compare  it  to 
man;  for  though  man  is  the  real  subject  of  the  Ait, 
they  pretend  that  they  only  speak  of  him  as  the 
subject  by  comparison  or  similitude ;  as  may  be 
seen  by  the  passages  cited  from  Flammel.  They 
refer  to  the  subject  by  calling  it  the  matter^  the 
body^  the  two  bodies  (Soul  and  Body),  or  they  often 
use  the  mere  pronoun  it.  They  will  say,  for  exam- 
ple, in  their  receipts^  which  may  always  be  consid- 
ered deceits  (tubs)  :  "  Take  the  matter,  ivhich  you 
knoiv  [when  the  general  reader  knows  nothing 
of  it],  and  purify  it;  you  must  see  that  it  is  per- 
fectly clean,  for  nothing  impure  must  enter  into  it," 
&c.  A  novice,  by  such  language,  is  thrown  off  his 
guard,  and  has  no  idea  that  the  matter  is  himself, 
and  that  the  interpretation  is,  —  If  you  wish  to  suc- 
ceed in  this  Art,  purify  yourself ;  wash  you;  make  I 
you  clean,  &c. ;  or,  if  you  wish  to  improve  another, 
work  on  the  same  principle.  This  is  Platonic  doc 
trine,  and  nothing  but  plain  good  sense.  It  is  ex 
plained  very  minutely  in  the  Sophist,  where  errone 
ous  opinions  of  all  sorts  are  called  "impediments' 


ALCHEMY  AND  THE  ALCHEMISTS.        223 

to  true  knowledge ;  and  it  is  said  they  must  be 
removed,  and  the  person  holding  them  must  be 
"purified,"  and  brought  to  "shame"  with  respect 
to  them,  before  he  is  in  a  fit  condition  to  receive 
true  knowledge. 

This  bringing  a  man  to  "  shame,"  as  Plato  calls 
it,  is  what  the  Alchemists  call  bringing  about  the 
hlack  state  of  the  matter  [dis solution^  calcination^  &c.) ; 
and  they  tell  us  that  it  must  necessarily  precede 
the  white  state,  before  the  latter  can  be  genuine  and 
bear  the  test  of  the  coupel.  This  white  state,  they 
then  say,  contains  the  red  state;  for  they  work 
from  within  outwards,  and  deny  with  the  greatest 
emphasis  that  goodness  and  truth  can  be  put  upon 
any  one :  it  must  be  brought  out  of  the  subject,  a 
la  Socratic  obstetrics  (Thesetetus) ;  on  the  principle 
that  "  nothing  can  give  what  it  has  not." 

It  may  be  imagined,  from  the  simplicity  of  the 
explanation,  that  there  was  nothing  in  Hermeticism 
to  require  gr  justify  so  much  mystery  and  secrecy. 
But  no  one  will  hold  to  this  opinion  who  under- 
stands that  "the  still,  small  voice"  has  actually 
more  "  pondus "  than  can  be  overcome  by  the 
whole  world.  It  was  held  to  be  of  such  impor- 
tance as  to  weigh  down  the  entire  claims  of  the 
external   Church  of  the  time.      It  may  be  said  in 


224  ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS. 

some  sense  always  to  rise  above  the  age  in  which  a 
man  lives,  just  as  the  ideal  in  all  of  the  arts  excels 
the  practical,  of  which  it  is  the  measure.  In  this 
connection  I  would  earnestly  recommend  the  study 
of  Plato's  immortal  Seventh  Letter  (4th  vol. 
Bohn's  edition). 

It  must  be  recollected  that  the  Alchemists  were 
Protestants,  when  Protestantism  could  not  speak 
openly.  Who  cannot  see  —  at  least  when  it  is 
pointed  out  —  to  \vhat  Eyrenseus  refers  when  he 
says : — 

"  My  heart  murmureth  things  unheard  of;  my 
spirit  beats  within  my  breast  for  the  good  of  all 
Israel.  These  things  I  send  before  into  the  world, 
like  a  preacher,  that  I  may  not  be  buried  unprofita- 
bly  in  the  world.  Let  my  book,  therefore,  be  the 
forerunner  of  EUas^  which  may  prepare  the  kingly 
way  of  the  Lord.  I  would  to  God  that  every 
ingenious  man  in  the  whole  earth  understood  this 

science ; then  would  virtue,  naked  as  it  is,  be 

held  in  great  honor  merely  for  its  own  amiable 
nature  "  ;  —  almost  as  if  the  spirit  of  John  the  Bap- 
tist had  warmed  him  into  a  prophecy  of  the  full 
maturity  of  the  Reformation  ;  which  is  still  incom- 
plete, though  it  has  been  fermenting  and  working 
over  three  hundred  years. 


ALCHEMY  AND  THE  ALCHEMISTS.        225 

But  I  must  bring  these  remarks  to  a  close. 

My  purpose  has  been  to  show  that,  notwithstand- 
ing there  were  pretenders  and  impostors,  and  freely 
admitting  that  multitudes  were  deceived  by  the 
literal  signification  of  the  language  of  the  Alche- 
mists, the  genuine  adepts  were  in  pursuit  of  neither 
wealth  nor  worldly  honors,  but  were  searchers  after 
truth,  in  the  highest  sense  of  this  word ;  and  whether 
we  call  it  truth,  virtue,  wisdom,  religion,  or  the 
knowledge  of  God,  one  answer  will  be  found  to 
I  explain  all  of  these  expressions.  This  one  answer, 
or  one  thing,  was  the  Philosopher's  Stone,  and  can 
be  found  in  no  other  thing  in  the  universe  but  the 

,    nature  of  man,  made  in  the  image  of  God. 
I 

Hence    the   importance   of    the    maxim,    Know 

Thyself. 


Since  preparing  the  foregoing  remarks,  a  friend 
has  suggested  that  the  object  of  the  Alchemists  is 
not  explained  with  sufficient  clearness.  The  query 
still  remains,  —  What  was  the  precise  purpose  of 
the  Alchemists? 

I  do  not  well  see  how  I  can  answer  this  any 
more  fully  than  I  have  already  done. 


226       ALCHEMY  AND  THE  ALCHEMISTS. 

The  reader  will  please  observe  that  my  first 
position  is  a  negative  one ;  viz.  that  the  genuine 
Alchemists  were  not  in  pursuit  of  either  riches  or 
honors,  in  a  worldly  sense.  To  establish  this  point, 
I  suppose  nothing  more  is  required  than  a  bare 
perusal  of  the  extracts  I  have  given  from  the  actual 
writings  of  the  Alchemists.  Those  who  desire  more 
evidence,  and  persist  in  the  ordinary  opinion,  must 
be  left  in  their  delusion,  for  delusion  it  certainly  is. 

This  negative  point  may  not  of  itself  be  of  much 
importance  ;  but  it  prepares  the  way  for  an  inquiry 
as  to  the  real  object. 

Of  this  I  have  given  the  opinion,  that  it  was  the 
perfection,  or  at  least  the  improvement,  of  man; 
and  I  have  indicated  that,  according  to  the  theory 
of  the  writers,  this  perfection  lies  in  a  certain  unity, 
I  might  say  a  living  sense  of  the  unity,  of  the 
human  with  the  divine  nature,  the  attainment  of 
which  I  can  liken  to  nothing  so  well  as  to  that 
experience  known  in  religion  as  the  new  birth, 
however  much  this  doctrine  may  be  misunderstood 
and  derided  by  zealots  on  the  one  side  and  the 
worldly-minded  on  the  other. 

I  have  endeavored  to  suggest  that  the  desired 
perfection,  or  unity,  is  a  state  of  the  soul,  a  condi- 
tion of  Being-,  and  not  a  mere  condition  of  Knowing. 


ALCHExAIY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS.  227 

I  regard  this  condition  of  Being  as  a  develop- 
ment of  the  nature  of  man  from  within,  —  in  some 
sense  unattainable  from  without,  except  as  external 
influences  may  administer  occasions  for  its  realiza- 
tion. I  consider  it  the  result  of  a  process  or  prac- 
tice, by  which  whatever  is  evil  in  our  nature  is  cast 
out  or  suppressed,  under  the  name  of  "  superflui- 
ties," and  the  good  thereby  allowed  opportunity 
for  free  activity  according  to  its  nature ;  but  as 
this  result  is  scarcely  accessible  to  the  unassisted 
natural  man,  and  requires  the  concurrence  of 
divine  power,  it  is  called  Donum  Dei,  the  gift  of 
God. 

Until  experienced,  the  conditions  of  its  existence 
require  on  the  part  of  the  philosophic  neophyte 
something  analogous  to  faith  in  religion ;  and  be- 
cause the  conditions  appear  to  be  in  contradiction 
to  nature,  or  within  themselves,  one  with  respect 
to  another,  the  resulting  experience  is  said  to  be 
supernatural;  but  it  only  appears  so  when  nature 
is  conceived  in  a  narrow  sense,  under  definitions 
by  which  nature  itself  is  divided  and  contemplated 
in  parts,  and  not  as  a  whole;  but  not  so  when  we 
accept  and  realize  the  dogma,  that  nature  contains 
nature. 

If  nature  be   defined   the    material   universe,  or 


228  ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS. 

universe  of  matter,  then  it  must  be  regarded  as  a 
blind,  inert  existence;  but  if  the  definition  be  ex- 
tended so  as  to  include  its  life,  or  power  of  Being 
and  action,  then  that  which  under  the  former  defi- 
nition would  be  regarded  as  supernatural  must  be 
considered  as  included  in  nature ;  not  that  what  is 
actual  in  Being  can  in  any  manner  be  affected  by- 
arbitrary  definitions ;  but  by  means  of  these  defini- 
tions the  mind  may  be  assisted  to  the  formation  of 
clear  ideas  about  what  at  first  we  really  have  only 
imaginations  or  notions  of,  resting  upon  mere  names 
and  not  iliings.  Most  men  have,  of  course,  notions 
of  what  they  call  natural  and  supernatural ;  but  be- 
fore these  notions  can  be  transmuted  into  ideas, 
they  must  be  temporarily  brought  into  question 
under  a  distinct  and  quite  peculiar  state  of  mind, 
which,  itself,  not  being  a  result  of  the  will  directly, 
is  for  this  reason  alone  often  considered  supernatu- 
ral, though  in  the  end  it  is  recognized  as  within 
nature ;  or,  perhaps  it  may  preferably  be  said,  not 
that  the  supernatural  is  brought  down  to  nature, 
but  that  nature  is  elevated  into  the  divine. 

If  the  natural  and  supernatural  be  treated  of  by 
symbols,  and  called,  the  one  sulphur  and  the  other 
mercury^  the  mind  of  the  student,  forced  to  think  of 
things  instead  of  mere  words,  may  be  led  finally  to 


ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS.  229 

conceive  the  inseparable  nature  of  the  two  in  a 
certain  third  something,  which,  during  the  progress 
of  the  inquiry,  may  be  called  Sol;  but  as  the  three 
are  seen  to  be  indissolubly  one,  the  terms  may  be 
used  interchangeably  until,  ^' after  long-  contempla- 
tion of  the  subject,  and  living  ivitli  it,  a  light  is  kin- 
dled on  a  sudden,  as  if  from  a  leaping  fire,  and,  being 
engendered  in  the  soul,  feeds  itself  vpon  itself^ 
(Plato.) 

Those  who  have  never  had  this  experience  are 
apt  to  decry  it  as  imaginary ;  but  those  who  enter 
into  it  know  that  they  have  entered  into  a  higher 
life,  or  feel  enabled  by  it  to  look  upon  things  from 
a  higher  point  of  view.  (See  the  opening  of  the 
Second  Book  of  Lucretius,  finely  used  by  Lord  Ba- 
con in  the  Essay  on  Truth.)  To  use  what  ma}^ 
seem  a  misapplication  of  language,  it  is  a  su- 
pernatural birth,  naturally  entered  upon;  it  is  the 
new  birth  of  the  Scriptures,  brought  about  super- 
naturally  according  to  nature. 

In  excuse  for  this  language  I  would  ask  any  one 
to  weigh  carefully  the  treatment  of  this  subject  by 
any  eminent  divine,  and  observe  how  language 
struggles  in  vain  to  escape  the  difficulties  of  it. 
As  an  example  at  hand,  I  will  refer  to  the  Select 
Discourses  of  the  Rev.  John  Heylyn,  D.  D.  (Lon- 

20 


h 


230  ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS. 

don,  1760),  —  the  Discourse  on  Conversion, — an 
excellent  work. 

The  text  is  from  Zechariah  i.  3 :  Turn  ye  unto 
me,  saith  the  Lord  of  Hosts,  and  I  ivill  turn  unto 
you. 

In  the  treatment  of  this  text,  the  writer  labors 
under  insuperable  difficulties  from  the  impossibility 
of  avoiding  the  seeming  contradiction,  wherein  it 
is  required  of  man,  as  a  condition  of  God's  turning 
to  him,  that  man  shall  turn  to  God  ;  while  yet  this 
turning  of  man  to  God  is  not  possible,  but  by  the 
power  of  God  in  man. 

We  find  in  this  Discourse  the  prayer,  very  appro- 
priately introduced, —  Turn  thou  us,  O  good  Lord, 
and  so  shall  ice  be  turned;  which  presents  directly 
the  antagonism  to  the  text. 

The  same  antagonism  is  brought  out  by  two 
other  passages  from  Scripture  :  —  Him  ivho  cometh 
to  me,  I  ivill  not  reject,  I  loill  in  no  ivise  cast  out. 
This  supposes  a  natural  power  in  man  so  to 
"  come " ;  but  then  we  read  that  No  man  can  come 
to  me,  except  the  Father,  ichich  hath  sent  me,  draw 
him,  which  affirms  an  impossibility  in  the  natural 
man  to  move  without  supernatural  help. 

Let  these  two  seemingly  opposite  or  contra- 
dictory conditions  be  examined  under  any  symbolic 


ALCHEMY  AND  THE  ALCHEMISTS.        231 

names  the  student  pleases,  the  seeker  keeping  his 
intent  upon  things,  and  not  words,  and  they  may 
finally  become  reconciled  in  a  certain  third  some- 
thing, which  shall  be  as  the  unity  of  the  two,  when 
all  becomes  clear. 

As  another  example  from  Dr.  Heylyn,  consider 
the  following  passage :  —  "In  strict  reasoning,  per- 
haps we  ought  not  to  ascribe  locality  to  the  Deity. 
Human  language  cannot  treat  of  God  hut  loith  great 
improprieties.  Yet  to  say  that  we  must  seek  God 
within  ourselves,  in  our  hearts,  is  in  some  respects 
a  proper  way  of  speaking,  because  it  is  a  proper 
way  of  conceiving  about  God.  God  is  in  the 
Heavens,  and  above  all  Heavens :  He  is  also  in 
every  tree,  and  plant,  and  stone,  as  verily  as  he  is 
in  the  heart  of  man:  He  is  in  every  other  man's 
heart,  as  well  as  in  ours.  But  seeing  he  is  within 
us,  we  ought  not  to  seek  him  luithout  us.  He  is  a 
God  7iear  at  hand,  and  not  afar  off.  Jer.  xxiii.  He 
is  indeed  both  near  and  afar  off  by  his  Ubiquity  or 
Omnipresence ;  but  inasmuch  as  concerns  us,  inas- 
much as  he  is  our  God,  He  is  near  us.  He  is  in  W5." 

In  this  passage  the  word  Heart  is  really  a  sym- 
bolic expression,  and  can  only  mean  that,  whatever 
it  be,  which  may  witness  to  us  the  presence  of  God 
in  us.     Our  familiarity  with  this  expression  makes 


232        ALCHEMY  AND  THE  ALCHEMISTS. 

US  feel,  in  the  use  of  it,  as  if  we  knew  all  about  it, 
though  in  truth  we  may  know  nothing  about  it. 
The  Alchemists  symbolize  something  similar  by  the 
expressions  philosophical  mercury  and  philosophical 
gold,  the  one  being  something  in  man,  the  other 
something  in  Godj  \vhich  are  ultimately  conceived 
as  "  one  only  thing." 

By  this  symbolism  the  Alchemists  escape,  or  en- 
deavor to  escape,  the  difficulty  of  treating  the  sub- 
ject in  ordinary  language ;  for  the  meaning  of  the 
terms  employed  must  be  sought  in  the  nature  of 
things  ;  or,  as  they  warn  us,  must  be  tested  by 
"  the  possibility  of  nature."  They  tell  us,  that 
whoever  departs  from  nature  is  lost,  and  must 
commence  his  work  anew.  "  Whoever  is  without 
the  bounds  of  nature,"  says  Espagnet,.  "  is  in  error, 
or  near  one." 

No  direct  language  can  grapple  with  the  diffi- 
culties of  this  subject,  and  its  use  is  calculated  to 
throw  a  stumbling-block  in  the  way  of  honest  in- 
quirers, while  it  furnishes  a  pretence  to  those  who 
are  disposed  to  cavil,  and  who  think  more  of  being 
subtle  about  \vords  than  of  realizing  the  truth  of 
things.  But  by  symbolism  these  difficulties  may 
to  some  extent  be  overcome,  and  this,  too,  without 
real  injury  to  the  student,  who  is  perpetually  cau-    I 


ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS.  233 

tioned  by  the  Alchemists  to  accept  only  the  truth, 
which  he  must  test  by  a  certain  infallible  rule. 

It  is  true  that  here  we  encounter  the  very  same 
difficulty  in  another  form  ;  for  this  rule  is  that  very 
truth  itself  which  the  student  is  supposed  to  be 
seeking. 

How,  then,  is  the  difficulty  said  to  be  overcome  ? 
I  say  to  some  extent ;  for,  as  by  the  literal  language 
of  symbolism  no  sense  is  attainable,  or  a  very 
trivial  one  only,  the  student  escapes  the  danger  of 
being  led  to  fancy  that,  by  passing  his  eyes  over 
a  mere  collocation  of  words,  he  has  reached  what 
Plato  calls  "the  very  wise  thing  itself";  and  then, 
being  driven  back  upon  nature  and  himself,  he  may 
find  what  he  seeks  ;  or,  rather,  he  is  rewarded  ac- 
cording to  w^h  at  he  seeks;  —  with  the  truths  if  that 
be  his  object,  pursued  with  a  "  single  eye"  ;  but  if 
his  eye  be  "double,"  he  finds  nothing,  for  in  this 
case  he  deserves  nothing  from  the  Art.  At  the 
worst,  if  the  student  understands  the  works  liter- 
ally, reading  with  a  double  eye,  he  misses  indeed 
the  wealth,  the  wisdom,  which  by  supposition  he 
is  not  seeking ;  but  by  experiments  upon  metals  in 
pursuit  of  merchantable  gold,  instead  of  treasures 
not  to  be  purchased,  he  unconsciously  prepares  the 
way  for   the  useful   science  of  chemistry,  and  so 

20* 


234  ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS. 

illustrates  the  beneficence  of  Providence  in  bringing 
good  out  of  all  things. 

In  reading  a  work  written  in  symbols,  the  stu- 
dent is  forced,  I  say,  to  consider  things,  and  not 
words ;  and  this  allows  his  real  desire  (love,  or 
purpose)  to  work  itself  out  according  to  its  essen- 
tial nature.  If  this  essence  of  the  man,  as  Swe- 
denborg  calls  it,  is  of  the  "  superior "  nature,  "  it 
produces  that  good  from  itself  which  it  supposes 
it  finds."  By  this  process  the  student  may  be  led 
into  the  right  position  for  receiving  a  certain  expe- 
rience^ which  becomes  as  a  light  in  the  soul  for  the 
explanation  of  what  seem  contradictions  to  the 
"  natural  man."  But  they  only  appear  to  be  con- 
tradictions because  of  the  absence  of  the  expe- 
rience ;  somewhat  as  other  experiences  may  be 
regarded  as  revelations  and  supernatural  prior  to 
their  realization  in  life.  Thus,  the  whole  of  life 
is  supernatural  to  the  helpless  infant ;  not  so  much 
to  the  youth,  in  whom  the  powers  of  nature  have 
begun  to  unfold  themselves;  while  to  the  sage, 
"  the  common  has  become  extraordinary,  the  extra- 
ordinary common,"  and  God  is  recognized  in  all 
things ;  for  to  the  sage  all  things  are  "  full  of 
God." 

When  the  student,  or  more  properly  the  "  seeker," 


ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS.  235 

is  ill  a  right  state  for  the  reception  of  this  expe- 
rience, —  for  it  has  its  fitting  time  and  requires  its 
suitable  conditions,  like  all  other  things,  —  the  Light 
comes  to  him,  or  rather  rises  within  him ;  but  as  if 
from  without,  and  may  be  said  to  be  both  natural 
and  supernatural.  The  Sulphur  and  Mercury  be- 
come one,  or  are  seen  to  be  the  same,  differing  only 
in  a  certain  relation ;  somewhat  as  the  known  and 
the  unknown  are  but  one,  the  unknown  decreasing 
as  the  known  increases,  and  vice  versa. 

The  general  reader  may  be  reminded,  by  what  is 
said  of  experience,  of  the  very  profound  definition, 
to  wit,  that  experience  is  that  which  one  experiences 
when  he  experiences  his  experience.  But  a  down- 
right experience  is  not  to  be  put  out  of  countenance 
by  a  witticism,  though  from  the  monarch  of  modern 
literature. 

"  Internal  illumination,"  says  Menzel,  "  which, 
though  the  fruit  of  long  preparation,  yet  remains 
an  involuntary  one,  is  a  matter  of  fact,  on  which 
no  false  systems  nor  irrational  claims  should  be 
founded :  which  should  by  no  means  be  put  to  an 
ill  use,  but  which  yet  can  by  no  means  be  reasoned 
away "  ;  —  and  what  is  more,  it  cannot  even  be 
ridiculed  away.  Locke  tried  his  reason  upon  it, 
and  Butler  his  wit;  but  the  thing  remains   a  uni- 


236  ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS. 

versal  fact,  upon  which,  it  is  admitted,  no  false 
systems  nor  irrational  claims  should  be  founded; 
but  this  does  not  exclude  inquiry  about  it,  but 
rather  invites  it;  for  as  a  single  fact  it  is  the  most 
extraordinary  thing  in  the  world. 

Of  course  the  use  of  the  mere  figurative  word 
Li^ht  can  teach  nothing,  and  must  be  understood 
in  regard  to  this  subject  as  in  respect  to  others, 
where  we  speak  of  the  light  of  knowledge,  the  light 
of  the  understanding,  and  as  it  is  used  in  the 
Psalms,  in  thy  Light  shall  loe  see  Lights  which 
means,  in  thy  truth  shall  we  see  truth  ;  or,  in  other 
words,  we  know  we  have  the  truth  when  we  realize 
it  as  in  God,  —  which  follows  readily  when  we 
understand  in  what  sense  God  is  said  to  be  Truth. 
Whoever  sees  the  truth  of  a  proposition,  even  of 
mathematics,  as  that  a  sphere  is  two  thirds  of  its 
circumscribing  cylinder,  may  form  some  notion  of 
the  Light  in  question,  which  teaches  the  relation  of 
man  to  God,  where  the  proposition  takes  precedence 
of  all  conceivable  questions,  and  for  this  reason  a 
sense  of  its  solution  must  be  realized  as  the  purest 
and  highest  attainable  Light,  the  sum  and  centre 
of  all  Light. 

The   importance  attached  to  the  personal  state 
and  purpose  of  the  student  is  urged  by  these  writers 


ALCHEMY  AND  THE  ALCHEMISTS.        237 

in  the  strongest  manner.  He  is  warned  again  and 
again  to  consider  well  what  he  seeks ;  for  as  every- 
thing has  its  proper  cause,  so  things  have  also  their 
proper  effects,  and  the  whole  of  nature  is  contained 
or  expressed  in  some  sense  in  these  two  dogmas ; 
and  yet,  while  each  particular  thing  may  be  re- 
garded as  a  single  fact,  from  one  point  of  view,  it 
represents,  from  another  point  of  view,  an  unvary- 
ing principle.     Hence  one  of  the  writers  says  :  — 

"  Thus,  though  I  have  someWliat  metaphorically 
deciphered  our  true  principles,  yet  I  have  done  it  so 
plainly  that,  with  diligence,  you  may  understand 
the  meaning ;  and  unless  you  know  this,  you  will 
proceed  blindfold  in  your  work,  not  knowing  the 
causes  of  things,  so  that  every  puff  of  sophisters 
will  toss  you,  as  a  feather  is  tossed  in  the  air  with 
a  blast  of  wind :  for  our  books  are  full  of  obscurity : 
philosophers  write  horrid  metaphors  and  riddles  to 
those  who  are  not  upon  a  sure  foundation,  which 
like  to  a  running  stream  will  carry  them  down  head- 
long into  error  and  despair,  from  which  they  can 
never  escape  till  they  so  far  understand  our  writ- 
ings as  to  discern  the  subject-matter  of  our  secrets, 
which  being  known,  the  rest  is  not  so  hard.  Pro- 
ceed, therefore,  not  one  step  farther  until  you  have 
learned  this  lesson,  namely,  to  wed  consanguinity 


238  ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS. 

with  consanguinity  [i.  e.  like  nature  with  like  na- 
ture], and  consider  well  what  it  is  you  desire  to 
produce,  and  according  to  that  let  be  your  inten- 
tion.    Take  the  lad  thing  in  your  intention  for  the 

first  thing  in  your  principles Attempt  nothing 

out  of  its   own   nature   [telling  us,  as  usual,  that 

grapes  are  not  gathered  from  thistles,  &c.] If 

you  apprehend  this  in  its  cause  aright,  and  know 
how  to  apply  this  doctrine  in  your  operation  as 
you  ought,  you  wfll  find  great  benefit,  and  a  door 
will  hereby  be  opened  to  the  discovery  of  greater 
mysteries." 

The  direction  here  given,  to  take  the  last  intention 
for  the  first  principle,  is  full  of  sound  philosophy, 
though  certainly  a  very  simple  thing  in  itself.  It 
only  means  that  a  student  should  distinctly  under- 
stand his  ultimate  purpose,  there  being  a  wide  dif- 
ference in  the  state  of  the  individual  who  seeks  what 
he  seeks  as  an  end,  or  as  a  means  to  an  end.  To 
seek  knowledge  for  riches,  is  a  very  different  thing 
from  seeking  riches  (or  independence)  as  an  instru- 
ment of  knowledge.  In  the  study  in  question,  the 
means  and  the  end  must  coincide ;  that  is,  the 
Truth  must  be  sought  for  itself  only,  and  not  as 
a  means  to  another  thing. 

I  have  said  that  the  instrument  of  preparation  in 


ALCHEMY    AND  THE    ALCHEMISTS.  239 

the  work  of  Alchemy  is  the  conscience,  called  by  a 
thousand  names,  by  means  of  which  —  become  ac- 
tive as  in  the  presence  of  God  —  the  matter  of  the 
Stone  (the  Man)  is  first  pmified  before  it  is  pos- 
sible for  the  Truth  to  be  realized.  By  a  metonymy 
the  conscience  itself  is  said  to  be  purified,  though 
in  fact  th^  conscience  needs  no  purification,  but 
only  the  man,  to  the  end  that  the  conscience  may 
operate  freely.  The  conscience  under  the  name 
of  a  middle  substance,  in  the  language  of  the  jar- 
gon, is  said  to  partake  of  an  azurine  sulphur,  that 
is,  of  a  heavenly  spirit,  or  in  other  words  of  the 
Spirit  of  God.  It  is  this,  as  I  conceive,  which  we 
are  cautioned  in  a  volume  of  universal  authority 
not  to  grieve  away. 

Man  first  hears  the  voice  of  God  in  the  con- 
science, the  still,  small  voice,  which,  though  often 
unheeded,  is  in  Alchemy,  as  well  as  in  the  Scrip- 
tures, compared  to  a  fire  :  —  Is  not  my  icord  like  as 
a  fire^  saith  the  Lord.  Jer.  xxiii.  29.  This  prepares 
the  way  for  what  many  of  the  writers  speak  of  as 
a  Lights  the  reference  to  which  is  so  curiously 
wrapt  up  in  figures  and  symbols,  that  I  will  cite  an 
entire  chapter  on  the  subject,  as  a  curious  specimen 
of  their  mode  of  writing. 


240  ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS. 

"CHAPTER    III* 

"  Of  the  Regimen  of  Sol. 

"  Now  art  thou  drawing  near  to  the  close  of  thy 
work,  and  hast  almost  made  an  end  of  this  busi- 
ness; all  appears  now  like  unto  pure  gold;  and  the 
Virgin^ s  Milk^  with  which  thou  imbibest  this  mat- 
ter is  very  citrine.  [1  Cor.  iii.  2.  The>s  conscience 
is  very  sound  and  healthy.] 

"Now  to  God,  the  giver  of  all  good,  you  must 
render  immortal  thanks,  who  hath  brought  this 
work  on  so  far ;  and  beg  earnestly  of  him,  that  thy 
counsel  mayest  hereafter  be  so  governed,  that  thou 
mayest  not  endeavor  to  hasten  thy  work ;  so  as  to 
lose  all,  now  it  is  so  near  to  perfection  :  consider 
that  thou  hast  waited  now  about  seven  months,  and 
it  would  be  a  mad  thing  to  annihilate  all  in  one 
hour :  therefore  be  thou  very  wary ;  yea,  so  much  the 
more  by  how  much  thou  art  nearer  to  perfection. 

"  But  if  thou  do  proceed  wearily  in  this  Regimen, 
thou  shalt  meet  with  these  notable  things  [experi- 
ences, symbolized,  of  an  entrance  into  the  higher 
Light  or  Life] :  first,  thou  shalt  observe  a  certain 
citrine  sweat  to  stand  upon  thy  Body;  and  after 
that  citrine  vapor,  then  shall   thy  Body  below  be 

*  From  Secrets  Revealed,  by  Eyrenreus. 


ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS.  241 

tinctured  of  a  violet  color,  with  an  obscure  pu7'ple 
intermixed.  [I  must  explain,  that,  when  these  works 
were  written,  physicians  were  in  the  habit  of  judg- 
ing of  the  condition  of  their  patients  by  the  appear- 
ance of  a  certain  water,  and  that  a  citrine  color 
indicated  a  healthy  condition,  —  here  intended  to 
signify  the  moral  condition  of  the  ^natter  of  the 
Stone:  —  the  violet  is  the  symbol  of  Love,  and  the 
purple  of  Immortality,  —  which  are  beginning  to 
dawn  upon  the  man  in  this  stage  of  the  work:  — 
but  to  proceed.]  After  fourteen  or  fifteen  days'  ex- 
pectation in  this  Regimen  of  Sol,  thou  shalt  see 
the  greatest  part  of  thy  matter  humid  [submissively 
yielding,  —  not  by  any  force  of  will,  but  by  a  much 
more  irresistible  constraint,  acting  yet  sweetly  and 
not  violently],  and  although  it  be  very  ponderous 
[self-willed],  yet  it  will  ascend  in  the  Belly  of  the 
Wind.  ["  But  when  they  arise  or  ascend,"  says  Ar- 
tephius,  referring  to  the  Soul  and  Body  of  the  one 
man,  "  they  are  born  or  brought  forth  in  the  Air  or 
Spirit,  and  in  the  same  they  are  changed,  and 
made  Life  with  Life,  so  that  they  can  never  be 
separated,  but  are  as  water  mixed  with  water. 
And  therefore  it  is  wisely  said,  that  the  Stone  is 
horn  of  the  Spirit,  because  it  is  altogether  spiritual." 
But  to  return  to  Eyrenceiis.] 

21 


242  ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS. 

"  At  length,  about  the  twenty-sixth  day  of  this 
Regimen,  it  will  begin  to  dry ;  and  then  it  will 
liquefy  and  recongeal,  and  will  grow  liquid  again 
an  hundred  times  in  a  day  [fluctuate  between  hopes 
and  fears,  assurances  and  doubts ;  —  some  of  the 
writers  say  that,  in  this  stage  of  the  work,  the  mat- 
ter will  put  on  all  the  colors  in  the  world,  &c.],  until 
at  the  last  it  will  begin  to  turn  into  grains ;  and 
sometimes  it  will  seem  as  if  it  were  all  discontinu- 
ous in  grain,  and  then  it  will  grow  into  ojie  mass 
again :  and  thus  it  will  put  on  innumerable  forms 
in  one  day ;  and  this  will  continue  for  the  space  of 
about  two  weeks. 

"  At  the  last,  by  the  will  of  God,  a  Light  shall  he 
sent  upon  thy  matter^  ivhich  thou  canst  not  imagine. 

"  Then  expect  a  sudden  end,  which  within  three 
days  thou  shalt  see ;  for  thy  matter  shall  convert 
itself  into  grains,  as  fine  as  the  atoms  of  Sol,  and 
the  color  will  be  the  highest  Red  imaginable,  which 
for  its  transcendent  redness  will  show  Blackish, — 
like  unto  the  purest  blood   when  it  is  congealed. 

'•  But  thou  must  not  believe  that  any  such  thing 
can  he  an  exact  parallel  of  our  Elixir^  for  it  is  a 
MARVELLOUS  CREATURE,  not  having  its  comjmre  in 
the  lohole  universe^  nor  anything  exactly  like  it^ 


ALCHEMY  AND  THE  ALCHEMISTS.        243 

Descriptions  similar  to  this  may  be  found  in  all 
of  the  writings  of  the  Alchemists  in  best  repute 
among  themselves.  The  author  of  the  above  wrote 
a  Commentary  upon  Sir  Geo.  Ripley's  Compound 
of  Alchemy^  expressly,  as  he  tells  us,  that  the  reader 
might  have  the  testimony  of  two  combined.  In  this 
Commentary  I  find  the  following  passages  :  — 

"  In  the  Beginning,  therefore,  of  our  Work, 
through  the  co-operation  of  heat  [nature],  both  in- 
ternal and  external,  and  the  moisture  of  the  Matter 
concurring,  our  Body  gives  a  Blackness  like  unto 
pitch,  which  for  the  most  part  happens  at  forty,  or 
at  most  in  fifty  days. 

"  This  color  discovers  plainly  that  the  two  natures 
are  united.  [By  these  tivo  natures,  the  reader  surely 
understands  by  this  time,  are  meant  what  are  called 
by  innumerable  names,  Sol  and  Luna,  gold  and 
silver.  Heaven  and  Earth,  Phoebus  and  Daphne, 
superior  and  inferior.  Soul  and  Body,  &c.,  &c.]  And 
if  they  are  united,  they  will  certainly  operate  one 
upon  the  other,  and  alter  and  change  each  other 
from  thing  to  thing,  and  from  state  to  state,  until 
all  come  to  one  Nature  and  Substance  Regenerate, 
which  is  a  new  Heavenly  Body. 

"  But  before  there  can  be  this  renovation,  the  Old 
Man  must  necessarily  be  destroyed,  [need  I  refer  to 


244  ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS. 

Eph.  iv.  22-24,  and  Col.  iii.  9,  10?]  that  is,  thy 
first  Body  must  rot  and  be  corrupted,  and  lose  its 
form,  that  it  may  have  it  repaid  with  a  new  form, 
which  is  a  thousand  times  more  noble.  So  then 
our  Work  is  not  a  forced  nor  an  apparent,  but  a 
natural  and  radical  operation,  in  which  our  Natures 
are  altered  perfectly,  in  so  much  that  the  one  and 
the  other,  having  fully  lost  what  they  were  before, 
yet  without  change  of  kind  [without  an  absolute 
change  of  substance]  they  become  a  third  thing, 
homogeneal  to  both  the  former. 

"  Thus  they  who  sow  in  tears  shall  reap  in  joy ; 
and  he  who  goeth  forth  mourning,  and  carrying 
precious  seed,  shall  return  with  an  abundance  of 
increase,  with  their  hands  filled  with  sheaves,  and 
their  mouths  with  the  praises  of  the  Lord.  Thus 
the  chosen  or  redeemed  of  the  Lord  shall  return 
with  songs,  and  everlasting  joy  shall  be  upon  their 
heads,  and  sighing  and  sorrows  shall  fly  away. 

"  Remember,  then,  this  alchemic  maxim,  namely, 
that  a  sad,  cloud//  morning  begins  a  fair  day  and  a 
cheerful  noontide;  for  our  Work  is  properly  to  be 
compared  to  a  day,  in  which  the  morning  is  dark 
and  cloudy,  so  that  the  sun  appears  not.  After 
that,  the  sky  is  overclouded,  and  the  air  cold  with 
northerly  winds,  and  much  rain  falls,  which  endures 


ALCHEMY  AND  THE  ALCHEMISTS.        245 

for  its  season  ;  but  after  that  the  sun  breaks  out, 
and  shines  more  and  more,  till  all  becomes  dry ;  and 
then  at  noonday  not  a  cloud  appears,  but  all  is  clear 
from  one  end  of  the  heaven  to  the  other." 

Here  the  author  introduces  cautions  against  haste 
and  over-anxiety,  advising  patience,  and  proceeds  :  — 

"  Then  shalt  thou  have  leisure  to  contemplate 
these  wonders  of  the  Most  High,  and  if  they  do  not 
ravish  and  astonish  thee  in  beholding  them,  it  is 
because   God  hath  not  intended  this  science  to  thee 

in  Mercy ^  hut  in  Judgment Remember,  then, 

when  thou  shalt  see  the  renewing  of  these  Natures, 
that  with  humble  heart  and  bended  knees  thou 
praise  and  extol  and  magnify  that  gracious  God, 
who  hath  been  nigh  unto  thee,  and  heard  thee,  and 
directed  thine  operations,  and  enlightened  thy  judg- 
ment; for  certainly  flesh  and  blood  never  taught 
thee  this,  but  it  was  the  free  gift  of  that  God  who 

giveth   to   whom   he   pleaseth This   is   the 

highest  perfection  to  which  any  sublunary  Body 
can  be  brought,  by  which  we  know  that  God  is 
One,  for  God  is  perfection :  —  to  which,  whenever 
any  creature  arrives  in  its  kind  [according  to  its 
nature],  it  rejoiceth  in  Unity,  in  which  there  is  no 
division  nor  alterity,  but  peace  and  rest  without 
contention 

21* 


246        ALCHEMY  AND  THE  ALCHEMISTS. 

"  This  is  the  last  and  noblest  conjunction,  in 
which  all  the  mysteries  of  this  microcosm  have 
their  consummation.  This  is  by  the  wise  called 
their  Tetraptive  conjunction,  wherein  the  Quad- 
rangle is  reduced  to  a  Circle,  in  the  which  there  is 
neither  beginning  nor  end.  He  that  hath  arrived 
here,  may  sit  down  at  banquet  with  the  Sun  and 
Moon.  This  is  the  so  highly  commended  Stone 
of  the  wise,  which  is  without  all  fear  of  corrup- 
tion  

"  And  this  ivork  is  done  tvithoiit  any  laying  on  of 
hands,  and  very  quickly^  ivhen  the  matters  are  pre- 
pared  and  made  fit  for  it.  This  work  is  therefore 
called  a  Divine  Work." 

In  the  Commentary  upon  the  Fifth  Gate  of 
Kipley,  the  author,  taking  up  the  work  in  its  more 
advanced  state,  says  :  — 

"  Thy  Earth  [meaning  Thyself  addressing  the 
Seeker]  then  being  renewed,  behold  how  it  is  decked 
with  an  admirable  green  color,  which  is  then  named 
the  Philosopher's  Vineyard.  This  greenness^  after 
the  perfect  whiteness^  is  to  thee  a  token  that  thy 
matter  [thyself  again]  hath  re-attained,  through  the 
will  and  power  of  the  Almighty,  a  new  Vegetative 
Life:  observe  then  how  this  Philosophical  Vine 
[thyself  still]  doth  seem  to  flower,  and  to  bring  forth 


ALCHEMY  AND  THE  ALCHEMISTS.        247 

tender  green  clusters ;  know  then  that  thou  art  now- 
preparing  for  a  rich  vintage.     [Col.  i.  10.] 

"  Thy  Stone  [thyself]  hath  already  passed  through 
many  hazards,  and  yet  the  danger  is  not  quite  over, 
although  it  be  not  great ;  for  thy  former  experience 
may  now  guide  thee,  if  rash  joy  do  not  make  thee 
mad. 

"  Consider  now  that  thou  art  in  process  to  a  new 
Work ;  and  though  in  perfect  ivhiteness  thy  Stone 
was  incombustible,  yet  in  continuing  it  on  the  Fire 
without  moving,  it  is  now  become  tender  again : 
therefore,  though  it  be  not  in  so  great  a  danger  of 
Fire  now  as  heretofore,  yet  immoderacy  may  and 
will  certainly  spoil  all,  and  undo  thy  hopes :  govern 
[thyself  understood]  with  prudence,  therefore,  while 
these  colors  shall  come  and  go,  and  be  not  either 
over-hasty,  nor  despondent,  but  wait  the  end  with 
patience. 

^'  For  in  a  short  time  thou  shalt  find  that  this 
^reen  will  be  overcome  with  Azure,  and  that  by 
the  pale  wan  color,  which  will  at  length  come  to  a 
Citrine  ;  which  Citrine  shall  endure  for  the  space  of 
forty-six  days. 

''  Then  shall  the  Heavenly  Fire  descend^  and  illu- 
minate the  Earth  [thyself]  ivith  inconceivable  glory ; 
the   Crown  of  thy  Labors  shall   be   brought  unto 


248  ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS. 

thee,  when  our  Sol  shall  sit  in  the  South,  shining 
with  redness  incomparable. 

"  This  is  our  true  Light,  our  Earth  glorified :  re- 
joice now,  for  our  King  hath  passed  from  death  to 
Life,  and  possesseth  the  keys  of  both  death  and 
hell,  and  over  him  nothing  now  hath  power.  [Rev. 
i.  18.] 

"  As  then  it  is  with  those  who  are  redeemed, 
their  Old  INIan  is  crucified,  wherein  is  sorrow, 
anguish,  grief,  heartbreaking,  and  many  tears ;  after 
which  the  New  Man  is  restored,  wherein  is  joy, 
shouting,  clapping  of  hands,  singing,  and  the  like  ; 
for  the  ransomed  of  the  Lord  shall  return  with 
songs,  and  everlasting  joy  shall  be  on  their  heads: 
even  so  is  it  after  a  sort  [the  author  means,  pre- 
cisely after  this  sort]  in  our  operations  ;  for  first  of 
all  our  Old  Body  dieth  and  rots,  and  is,  as  it  were, 
corrupted,  engendering  most  venomous  exhalations, 
which  is,  as  it  were,  the  Purgatory  of  this  Old 
Body,  in  which  its  corruption  is  overcome  by  a  long 
and  gentle  decoction.  And  when  it  is  once  purged, 
and  made  clean  and  pure,  then  are  the  elements 
joined,  and  make  one  perfect,  perpetual,  indissoluble 
Unity;  so  that  from  henceforth  there  is  nothing 
but  concord  and  amity  to  be  found  in  all  our  hab- 
itations. 


ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS. 


249 


"  This  is  a  noble  step,  from  Hell  to  Heaven ;  from 
the  bottom  of  the  grave  to  the  top  of  Power  and 
Glory ;  from  obscurity  in  Blackness,  to  resplendent 
whiteness ;  from  the  height  of  Venenosity,  to  the 
height  of  Medicine.  O  Natm*e!  how  dost  thou 
alter  things  into  things,  casting  down  the  high  and 
mighty,  and  again  exalting  them  from  lowliness 
and  humility  !  O  Death  I  how  art  thou  vanquished 
when  thy  prisoners  are  taken  from  thee,  and  carried 
to  a  state  and  place  of  immortality !  This  is  the 
Lord's  doing,  and  it  is  marvellous  in  our  eyes." 
[Ps.  cxviii.  23.] 

The  author  then  proceeds  to  illustrate  the  neces- 
sity of  alternate  action  upon  natural  Bodies,  before 
they  can  be  prepared  for  a  change  of  nature :  they 
must  be  exposed  to  "heat"  and  "cold,"  must  be 
"dried"  and  "watered"  (prospered  and  saddened), 
in  order  to  be  made  pliable  and  yielding,  &c.,  &c., 
all  of  which  must  be  done  with  one  Fire,  which  he 
immediately  calls  the  "  Spirit  proper  to  it,"  and 
then  tells  us  that  the  wise  men  have  called  it  their 
Venus^  or  Goddess  of  Love^  and  says  :  — 

"  Proceed,  therefore,  not  as  a  fool,  but  as  a  wise 
man  ;  make  the  water  of  thy  Compound  [thine  own 
spirit]  to  arise  and  circulate,  so  long  and  often  that 
the  Soul,  that  is  to  say,  the  most  subtle  virtue  of 


250        ALCHEMY  AND  THE  ALCHEMISTS. 

the  Body,  arise  with  it,  circulating  with  the  Spirit 
in  manner  of  a  Fiery  Form,  by  which  both  the 
Spirit  and  Body  are  enforced  to  change  their  color 
and  complexion  ;  for  it  is  this  Soul  of  the  dissolved 
Bodies,  which  is  the  subject  of  wonders ;  it  is  the 
Life,  and  therefore  quickens  the  dead ;  it  is  the 
Vegetative  Soul,  and  therefore  it  makes  the  dead 
and  sealed  *Bodies,  which  in  their  own  nature  are 

barren,  to  fructify  and  bring  forth If  thou 

hast  attended  well  to  what  hath  been  told  thee  in 
these  five  Gates,  thou  art  secure  ;  make  sure  of  thy 
true  Matter,  which  is  no  small  thing  to  know,  and 
though  we  have  named  it,  yet  we  have  done  it  so 
cunningly,  that,  if  thou  wilt  be  heedless,  thou  may- 
est  sooner  stumble  at  our  books  than  at  any  thou 
ever  didst  read  in  thy  life.  Meddle  with  nothing 
out  of  kind  [out  of  species  or  nature],  whether  Salts 
[generally  called  corrosives]  or  Sulphur,  or  whatever 
is  of  like  imposition ;  and  whatever  is  alien  from 
the  perfect  metals  [foreign  to  our  nature]  is  repro- 
bate in  our  mastery.  Be  not  deceived  either  with 
receipts  or  Discourse,  for  we  verily  do  not  intend  to 
deceive  thee ;  but  if  you  will  be  deceived,  be  de- 
ceived." 

These  writers  have  a  favorite  saying  that  receipts 
are  deceits^  and  yet  their  books  are  filled  with  them ; 


ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS.  251 

but  their  receipts  deceive  no  one  who  proceeds  so 
far  in  the  knowledge  of  their  Art  as  to  understand 
that  it  is  not  a  work  of  the  hands,  but  one  of 
thought  and  meditation,  with  which  the  life  must 
be  kept  in  unison ;  for  it  is  the  destruction  of  the 
whole  work  not  to  have  the  thought  and  deed  keep 
company,  insuring  in  the  end  a  perfect  union  of  the 
intellect  and  will ;  for  Sol  and  Luna  must  be  indis- 
solubly  joined,  and  when  this  is  done  by  nature,  no 
Art  can  separate  them. 

If  the  few  immediately  preceding  pages  of  ex- 
tracts from  the  writings  of  the  Alchemists  are  not 
sufficient  of  themselves  to  satisfy  any  one  as  to  the 
general  character  of  the  object  of  the  Art,  and  that 
it  was  religious,  I  know  not  what  evidence  would 
suffice  for  the  purpose.  There  is  but  one  subject  in 
the  whole  range  of  human  interests  that  can  furnish 
an  interpretation  of  these  citations,  and  it  is  that 
which  is  known  under  the  name  of  the  neiu  hirih  in 
religion.  I  admit  that  the  experience  itself  may 
have  many  forms,  the  genuine  element  or  sub- 
stance of  it  breaking  through  a  crust  of  human 
mixtures  of  innumerable  components,  as  passions, 
errors,  mistakes,  ignorance,  and  sin,  not  forgetting 
also  that  it  appears  at  various  periods  of  life,  some- 


L 


252  ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS. 

times  as  early  as  at  six  or  eight  years  of  age,  and 
then  again  not  unfrequently  even  at  sixty  and  up- 
wards. 

It  is  stated,  however,  as  a  part  of  the  history  of 
the  Art,  that  one  adept  found  the  Stone  at  twenty- 
three  years  of  age,  and  this  was  thought  a  very  early 
period  of  life  for  such  a  discovery ;  by  which  I  am 
led  to  suppose  that  much  of  what  is  called  a  relig- 
ious experience,  or  conversion,  would  not  be  consid- 
ered as  falling  within  the  strict  boundaries  of  the 
Art,  or  would  not  be  regarded  as  a  sure  indication 
of  being  an  adept. 

I  suppose  a  genuine  religious  experience  is  very 
rare,  and  that  much  of  what  commonly  passes 
under  this  name  indicates  more  of  mere  emotion 
than  of  true  insight,  and  partakes  more  of  human 
variability  than  the  Art  allows.  The  artists  tell  us 
to  make  the  Stone  once,  and  never  make  it  again ; 
meaning  that,  once  truly  made  and  there  is  no  after 
change.  We  may  even  suppose  them  to  mean  that 
there  is  no  falling  from  (a  true)  grace,  and  of  course 
in  that  case  there  can  be  no  repetition  of  it. 

Some  religious  writers  do  not  hesitate  to  say,  that, 
if  any  one  gives  signs  of  having  fallen  from  grace, 
it  is  a  sure  evidence  that  he  never  truly  possessed 
it.     I  am  not  qualified  to  discuss  this  question,  and 


ALCHEMY  AND  THE  ALCHEMISTS.        253 

yet  I  think  its  solution  may  have  some  bearing 
upon  Alchemy.  It  may  refer  to  what  I  call  the 
End  of  the  Art,  of  which  I  am  religiously  indisposed 
to  speak,  for  many  reasons,  chiefly  because  no  con- 
sideration in  the  world  would  induce  me  to  hazard 
a  mistake  in  regard  to  it ;  for  whatever  others  may 
think  of  it,  I  suppose  it  to  relate  to  the  one  thing 
needful;  and  as  I  would  not  willingly  err  on  this 
point  myself,  so  neither  would  I  mislead  any  one 
in  regard  to  it.  I  prefer  to  encounter  the  charge 
of  presumption  in  recommending  this  abstinence 
for  the  imitation  of  others.  He  who  undertakes 
the  office  of  a  teacher  should  at  least  be  very  sure 
of  his  own  footing,  especially  in  matters  of  relig- 
ion, and  I  am  sure  that  this  is  the  subject  of  Al- 
chemy. 

I  am  in  the  belief  that  all  of  the  genuine  Alche- 
mists were  of  the  opinion  that  true  religion  cannot 
be  taught,  in  the  ordinary  meaning  of  this  word.  It 
may  be  preached  about,  talked  about,  and  written 
about ;  but  there  always  remains  something  in  the 
depths  of  a  religious  soul  which  cannot  be  ex- 
pressed in  human  language.     Hence  the  line, 

"  Expressive  silence  muse  his  praise," 

is   the   best   utterance  of  a  true   religious  feeling. 

22 


254        ALCHEMY  AND  THE  ALCHEMISTS. 

The  subject  of  religion  may  be  talked  about,  writ- 
ten about,  and  preached  about ;  but  the  final  step, 
the  entrance  into  "  light,"  is  not  taken  by  any  force 
of  mere  human  will,  nor  is  it  the  reward  of  a  mere 
search  after  knowledge,  unless  this  search  be  after 
truth,  as  such,  under  an  impulse  which  is  not  the 
fruit  of  any  merely  human  will,  but  must  itself  par- 
take of  a  religious  character,  its  true  nature  only 
becoming  known  after  it  has  consummated  its  own 
proper  results.      This  I  regard  as  one  of  the  chief 
reasons   for   symbolic   writing,    as    I   have   already 
said. 

The  Alchemists,  as  I  have  said,  were  earnestly 
employed  about  the  New  Birth,  and  though  they 
called  it  Donum  Dei,  they  inquired  into  it  as  a 
work  of  nature  within  nature;  for  with  them  it 
was  a  maxim  that  nature  dissolves  nature,  nature 
joins  nature,  nature  loves  nature,  nature  amends 
nature,  nature  perfects  and  is  perfected  by  nature. 
Therefore  I  have  said  that  Alchemy  was  religious 
philosophy,  or  was  so  intended  by  the  Alchemists, 
right  or  wrong,  and  that  they  were  not  in  pursuit 
of  gold. 

Let  them  be  condemned,  if  the  reader  pleases; 
but  for  what  they  were,  and  not  for  what  they 
were  not. 


ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS.  255 

In  religion,  as  popularly  understood,  conversion 
is  said  to  commence  with  repentance,  without 
which,  we  are  told,  it  is  impossible  to  reach  a  real- 
izing sense  of  acceptance  with  God. 

In  Alchemy  this  repentance  was  called  a  "  philo- 
sophical contrition  "  ;  which  did  not  necessarily  pre- 
suppose deliberate  sin,  but  only  such  errors  and 
mistakes  as  an  unenlightened  and  unguided  will 
must  fall  into  in  its  first  communion  with  the 
world.  In  this  early  stage  the  will  regards  chiefly 
the  individual  self^  and  its  acts  and  doings  tend  to 
bring  this  self  into  conflict  with  the  not-self^  which 
is  indeed  only  the  other  and  really  more  noble  part 
of  the  self,  and  the  end  is  to  turn  the  will  to  the 
not-self  and  adjust  it  to  the  whole,  its  entire  self. 
Leibnitz  says  :  "  The  human  soul  is  infinitely  richer 
than  it  is  itself  aware  of:  its  being  is  so  broad  and 
deep,  that  it  can  never  wholly  develop  and  compre- 
hend itself  in  the  consciousness.  Man  is  a  mystery 
1  to  himself,  a  riddle  which  will  never  be  solved  in 
the  consciousness ;  for,  should  he  ever  attain  to  the 
internal  intuition  of  his  whole  being,  he  would  be 
swallowed  up  and  consumed  in  himself." 

The  first  steps  of  man  towards  the  discovery  of 
his  Whole  Beings  the  Alchemists  called  a  philo- 
sophical contrition.     They  also  called  it  the  black 


L 


206  ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS. 

state  of  the  matter.  This  was  said  to  be  the  first 
color,  giving  a  sure  sign  of  a  true  or  right  operation, 
without  which  the  work  could  by  no  possibility  suc- 
ceed. In  this  black  state  was  carried  on  the  work 
of  "  dissolution,"  "  calcination,"  "  separation,"  &c., 
the  separation  being  of  that  which  the  writers  call 
the  superfluous  phlegm  and  faeces  from  the  matter, 
which  was  then  supposed  to  pass  into  the  white 
state,  —  that  of  purification.  In  this  white  state 
the  red  was  said  to  be  contained,  as  the  white  was 
said  to  be  contained  in  the  black,  the  whole  work 
being  regarded  as  one  continuous  operation.  The 
red  state  being  wrought  out  advanced  the  matter  to 
the  perfect  state,  that  of  Fixation^  as  it  was  called  ; 
by  which  the  soul  was  supposed  to  have  entered 
into  its  true  rest  in  God,  where  alone  it  can  rest. 

The  so-called  State  of  Fixation  was  not  under- 
stood as  one  of  unyielding  reliance  upon  one's  self, 
but  as  a  condition  in  which  the  man  was  supposed 
fixed  in  an  intelligent  obedience  to  God,  —  fixed, 
because  enabled  to  exclaim.  If  God  be  for  us,  who 
can  be  against  us  ?  But  God  is  for  those  who 
know  and  obey  his  eternal  will. 

They  compared  man  in  this  state  to  loax  on  a 
movable  plane,  maintaining  its  identity,  not  run- 
ning like  water,  yet  accommodating  itself  to  the 
varying  inclinations  of  the  plane. 


ALCHEMY  AND  THE  ALCHEMISTS.        257 

There  appears  to  be  something  in  the  examina- 
tion of  this  subject  which  opens  up,  at  first,  a 
seeming  contradiction  between  the  intellect  and  the 
senses,  or  between  science  and  opinion,  though  in 
the  end  everything  becomes  reconciled  in  unity. 
We  may  perceive  some  shadow  of  it,  in  the  evi- 
dence of  the  uninstructed  senses  that  the  heavenly 
bodies  revolve  around  the  earth,  science  ultimately 
showing  that  this  movement  of  the  heavenly  bodies 
is  only  apparent, — -  a  result  of  the  revolution  of  the 
earth  on  its  axis. 

The  most  extraordinary  results  in  mathematics 
have  been  obtained  by  a  notion  which  the  senses 
can  in  no  wise  conceive  or  comprehend,  as  in  the 
differential  calculus.  Let  the  reader  conceive  a 
point  in  a  circle,  which,  by  definition,  has  no  dimen- 
sions. To  the  senses  there  can  be  but  one  tangent 
to  the  circle  at  the  point,  but  by  assuming  a  right 
side  and  a  left  side  to  the  point,  or  a  motion  of  the 
point,  which  has  no  substantial  dimensions,  —  a 
thing  impossible  to  the  imagination,  —  and  then 
supposing  two  tangents  through  these  imaginary 
sides  of  the  point,  an  indefinitely  small  space  is 
assumed  to  exist  between  the  point  and  the  two 
tangents ;  and  this  may  pass  for  a  fluxion,  in  the  use 
of  which  —  wholly  inconceivable   to   the   senses  — 

22* 


258        ALCHEMY  AND  THE  ALCHEMISTS. 

the  most  astonishing  results  have  been  obtained  in 
mathematics ;  and  no  one  can  assign  a  limit  to  dis- 
coveries of  this  nature,  in  which  the  intellect,  or  a 
certain  intuitive  conception  (not  perception)  over- 
masters the  senses  and  carries  them  into  willing 
captivity. 

No  one  can  define  and  distinguish  eternity  from 
time,  so  as  to  avoid  the  notion  that  eternity  is  a 
very  long  time.  We  call  it  infinite,  and  fancy  that 
by  this  word  we  have  removed  the  difiiculty,  but  it 
is  universally  conceived  as  a  double  infinite,  an 
infinite  past  and  an  infinite  future ;  when,  in  fact, 
these  expressions  are  wholly  improper,  both  the 
past  and  the  future  being  to  the  imagination  in- 
definite, but  not  infinite ;  while  the  present,  which 
is  like  the  point  in  the  circle,  without  dimensions  to 
the  senses,  is  said  by  some  to  be  the  true  infinite, 
or  the  true  eternal,  for  we  are  never  in  the  past  and 
never  in  the  future,  but  always  in  the  present,  which 
may  be  called  the  substance  of  Ume^  time  itself,  the 
past  and  future,  being  two  "  superficial  compo- 
nents" of  the  eternal.  If  we  call  the  present  Sol., 
and  the  past  and  future  Sulphur  and  Mercurf/,  and 
study  the  nature  of  the  thing-,  free  from  the  bias  of 
early  education  and  habit,  and  free  also  from  the 
delusion  that  words  can  teach  things,  when  it  is 


ALCHEMY  AND  THE  ALCHEMISTS.        259 

things  only  that  can  define  words,  we  may  discover 
how  the  present  is  the  essential,  while  the  past  and 
future  are  superficial,  and  yet  all  three  are  one ;  for 
while  in  the  present,  w^e  are  in  the  future  ivith  re- 
spect to  the  past,  and  in  the  past  loith  respect  to  the 
future. 

Hobbes  could  not  perceive  this,  and  as  he  could 
not  or  did  not  conceive  it,  he  ridiculed  the  notion  of 
an  eternal  Noiv,  —  as  he  denied  everything  that  re- 
fused to  come  under  the  dominion  of  the  senses. 
But  the  history  of  science  everywhere  illustrates  the 
proper  supremacy  of  the  intellect  over  the  senses, 
and  when  attained  in  due  course  of  nature  itself, 
the  senses  become  perfectly  obedient,  as  we  see 
emphatically  in  the  history  of  astronomy. 

It  is  entirely  useless  for  opinion  to  enter  into  con- 
flict with  science,  or  sense  with  intellect ;  for  the 
intellect  cannot  be  convinced  through  or  by  the 
senses ;  neither  indeed  can  the  senses  be  convinced 
except  through  the  intellect,  and  as  most  men  live 
in  the  senses  and  not  in  the  intellect,  so  most  of 
the  conscientious  disputations  in  the  world  are  con- 
fined to  those  who  live  wholly  or  chiefly  in  the 
senses ;  that  is,  upon  opinions  and  not  knowledge, 
in  w^hich  both  parties  may  be  in  error,  while  neither 
the  one  nor  the  other  is  able  to  distinguish  where 


260        ALCHEMY  AND  THE  ALCHEMISTS. 

the  error  lies.  But  in  true  knowledge  there  is  no 
ground  for  dissension  and  conflict,  the  very  exist- 
ence of  which  is  proof  that  one  or  both  of  the 
parties  has  no  proper  conception  of  the  point  in 
debate. 

From  this  comes  the  saying,  that  clever  men  soon 
discover  each  other  and  recognize  each  other  by 
signs  infinitely  more  sure  and  unfailing  than  any 
artificial  or  conventional  signs  in  masonry  or  any 
other  secret  association. 

I  have  thus  endeavored  to  show  that  Alchemy  — 
the  name  of  Hermetic  Philosophy  in  the  INIiddle 
Ages — was  religious  philosophy,  or  philosophic  re- 
ligion ;  for  here  as  elsewhere  the  Sulphur  and  Mer- 
cury (the  Sun  and  Moon)  pass  into  one. 

It  was  an  effort,  in  what  has  been  called  a  be- 
nighted period,  to  realize  religion  apart  from  its 
forms  and  ceremonies,  as  properly  innate  in  man, 
whose  nature  was  supposed  to  contain  it.  In  the 
language  of  Hollandus,  "  It  contains  all  that  we 
seek ;  and  it  needs  only  that,  first,  we  separate 
what  is  superfluous  from  it,  and  then,  that  we  turn 
its  inside  outwards  :  then  it  will  be  good  gold." 

But   as   this   may  seem   to   present   an  inviting 


ALCHEMY  AND  THE  ALCHEMISTS.        261 

facility,  as  if  it  was  an  easy  matter  for  man  to  be 
saved,  —  which  the  philosophers  indeed  tell  us  is 
really  the  case,  but  they  add,  that  it  is  only  so  to 
the  wise  man,  for  to  the  wise  man  only  is  the  yoke 
of  Christ  easy,  —  I  will  add  two  or  three  passages 
from  a  work  entitled  De  Manna  Benediclo,  which 
may  serve  to  show  how  earnest  these  writers  were 
in  their  warnings  against  indulging  in  self-security 
and  ungrounded  hopes.  The  reader  may  remember 
the  cautions  of  Espagnet  and  others  already  cited. 

"  Whosoever  thou  art  that  readest  this  Tract,  let 
me  advise  thee  rather  to  fix  thy  mind  and  soul  on 
God,  in  keeping  his  commandments,  than  upon 
the  love  of  this  Art  [the  love,  the  author  means,  of 
the  supposed  external  advantages  of  the  Art],  for 
although  it  be  the  only,  nay,  all  the  wisdom  of  the 
world,  yet  doth  it  come  short  of  the  divine  wisdom 
of  the  Soul,  which  is  the  Love  of  God  in  keeping 

his  commandments Hast  thou  been  covetous, 

profane  ?  be  meek  and  holy,  and  serve  in  all  humil- 
ity thy  most  glorious  Creator :  if  thou  dost  not 
resolve  to  do  this,  thou  dost  but  luash  an  Ethiopian 
ivhite,  and  shalt  ivaste  an  earthly  estate,  hojmig  to 
attain  this  science. 

"  There  is  no  human  art  or  wit  which  can  snatch 
it  from  the  Almighty's  hand ;  nor  was  it  ever,  and 


262        ALCHEMY  AND  THE  ALCHEMISTS. 

I  am  persuaded  it  never  shall  be,  given  but  to  such 
as  shall  be  of  upright  hearts." 

As  a  further  caution  against  precipitate  haste  in 
forming  conclusions  as  to  this  philosophy,  I  will 
add  the  following  passage  from  the  commentary  of 
Eyrenseus  upon  Ripley  :  — 

"  We  have  plainly  and  faithfully  done  our  duty, 
and  by  a  line,  as  it  were,  have  separated  the  false 
from  the  true;  yet  we  know,  that  in  the  world  our 
writings  shall  prove  as  a  curious  edged  knife :  to 
some  they  shall  carve  out  dainties,  but  to  others 
they  shall  serve  only  to  cut  their  fingers :  yet  we  are 
not  to  be  blamed ;  for  ive  do  seriously  admonish  all 
who  shall  attemjH  this  ivork,  that  they  undertake  the 
highest  piece  of  philosophy  in  nature ;  and  though 
we  write  in  English,  yet  our  matter  will  be  as  hard 
as  Greek  to  some,  who  will  think  nevertheless  that 
they  understand  us  well,  when  they  misconstrue 
our  meaning  most  perversely;  for  is  it  imaginable 
that  they  who  are  fools  in  nature,  should  be  wise 
in  our  books^  which  are  testimonies  unto  nature  ? 

For  all  this  work   of  the   Artist  is   only  to 

help  nature ;  we  can  do  no  more ;  yea,  we  have 
professed  and  will  continue  to  profess  that  we  do 
but  administer  unto  nature  herein.  For  all  the 
works  of  God  are  entire ;  we  can  but  behold  them 


ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS.  263 

and  admire  them"  (and  work  with  them),  "and 
therefore  we  seek  our  principles  where  nature  is, 
and  amend  nature  in  its  own  nature.  Whereas 
those  who  work  upon  other  matters  do  most  shame- 
fully betray  their  ignorance.  They  do  not  con- 
sider the  possibility  of  nature,  but  work  after  their 
fancy." 

This  writer,  Eyrenaeus,  compares  a  seeker  to  one 
who  enters  a  castle,  anxious  to  view  its  curiosities, 
which,  however,  cannot  be  seen  but  by  means  of  a 
guide,  who  accordingly  offers  his  services.  This 
guide  has  a  peculiar  character,  and  the  seeker  is 
thus  advised  in  regard  to  him :  — 

"  You  must  know  how  to  please  him,  that  he 
may  be  the  more  willing  to  go  along  with  you  in 
the  right  way,  and  not  leave  you,  as  he  hath  done 
some,  nor  mislead  you,  as  he  hath  done  others,  who, 
when  they  have  attempted  this  work  with  fair  suc- 
cess in  the  knowledge  of  matters  requisite,  have 
notwithstanding  fatally  erred,  —  not  knowing  how 
to  please  their  guide,  who  hath  a  humor  of  his  own 
not  to  be  equalled  in  the  world ;  and  if  you  make 
hi^n  either  sullen  or  choleric,  you  may  as  ivell  give 
over  the  enterprise. 

"  First  of  all,  then,  know  that  for  his  part  he  is 


L 


264        ALCHEMY  AND  THE  ALCHEMISTS. 

a  very  stupid  fool;  there  is  none  more  simple 
among  all  his  brethren ;  yet  he  is  most  faithful  to 
his  Lord,  and  doth  all  things  for  him  most  pru- 
dently, ordering  all  things  in  the  family  very  dis- 
creetly;—  which  I  may  rather  ascribe  to  a  natural 
instinct,  than  to  any  quickness  of  parts.  He  is 
very  faithful ;  for  which  cause  he  will  never  either 
ask  or  answer  any  question,  but  goes  on  his  way 
silently  :  nor  will  he  ever  go  before  you,  but  follow. 
You  must  be  very  wary  how  you  lead  him,  for  if 
he  can  find  an  opportunity  he  will  give  you  the 
slip,  and  leave  you  to  a  world  of  misfortune. 

"  By  his  countenance  you  shall  know  whether  he 
be  pleased  or  displeased ;  therefore  lay  bonds  on 
him ;  that  is,  shut  him  close  where  he  may  not  get 
forth :  then  go  before  with  heat^  and  be  ever  watch- 
ful of  his  countenance  as  he  follows ;  his  anger  you 
shall  know  by  redness  in  his  countenance ;  and  his 
sullenness  by  his  lumpish  behavior;  when  in  good 
humor  he  is  indifferent  active  and  merry :  and  so 
you  shall  pass  on  forward,  or  turn,  or  go  back,  as 
you  see  his  countenance  and  temper  inclined." 

Need  the  reader  be  told  who  this  personage  is, 
and  that  every  man  hath  him  at  command  unless 
he  offends  him  and  drives  him  away,  or  by  neglect 
reduces  him  to  silence  ?     He  is  the  soothing  "  plas- 


I 


ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS.  265 

tei'"  to  be  applied  to  the  heart  at  night,  and  to  be 
carefully  preserved  during  the  day;  the  use  of 
which  Dr.  Mackay,  LL.  D.,  could  not  understand. 
He  was  the  guide  of  Socrates,  known  in  history  as 
the  Dcemon  of  Socrates;  and  the  grand  difference 
between  Socrates  and  other  men  lies  principally  in 
the  simple  fact,  that  the  teacher  of  Plato  never  dis- 
'  obeyed  his  guide. 

Socrates,  in  his  Defence  before  the  Athenians,  is 
made  by  Plato  to  speak  of  himself  as  being  "  moved 
by  a  certain  divine  and  spiritual  influence^''  which  he 
says  began  with  him  ''from  childhood^  being  a  kind 
of  voice  ivhich  even  in  the  most  trifling  affairs^''  op- 
posed him,  "  ivlien  about  to  do  anything  ivrong^''  but 
never  urged  him  on  when  in  the  right ;  that  is,  like 
the  guide  spoken  of  by  Eyrenseus,  never  went  be- 
fore him,  but  kept  him  company,  and  put  on  a 
certain  "redness  of  countenance"  whenever  danger 
was  near. 

Whole  volumes  and  numberless  essays  have  been 
written  to  explain  the  simple  allusions  in  Plato  and 
Xenophon  to  the  Daemon  of  Socrates ;  but  nothing 
more  is  necessary  for  this  purpose,  than  a  reference 
to  "  the  possibility  of  natiire^^  with  a  reasonable  sup- 
position that  the  conscience  is  more  clear  and  dis- 
tinct in  its  monitions  to  some  men  than  to  others, 

23 


266        ALCHEMY  AND  THE  ALCHEMISTS. 

being  perhaps  less   overlaid  and  obstructed   in   its 
action. 

As  this  volume  is  purposely  made  up  of  extracts 
from  the  writings  of  the  Alchemists,  —  to  let  them 
speak  for  themselves,  —  and  has  nothing  of  my  own 
in  it  but  suggestions  with  a  view  to  the  interpreta- 
tion of  those  writings,  I  will  cite  another  example 
of  a  reference  to  the  conscience  as  the  sruide  to 
what  I  call,  for  convenience,  the  End.  I  take  it 
from  Lumen  de  Lumine,  or  a  New  Magical  Light. 
(1651.) 

"  There  is  a  Moimtain  [Mons  Magorum  Invisi- 
bilis],  situated  in  the  midst  of  the  Earth  or  Centre 
of  the  World  [this  centre  is  said  to  be  everywhere], 
which  is  both  small  and  great.  It  is  soft;  also 
above  measure  hard  and  stony.  It  is  far  off,  and 
yet  near  at  hand ;  but  by  the  providence  of  God 
invisible.  In  it  are  hidden  most  ample  treasures, 
which  the  world  is  not  able  to  value."  Here  fol- 
lows a  picture  of  the  difficulty  of  reaching  this 
mount,  with  a  statement,  that  it  is  to  be  found 
"  by  those  that  are  worthy ;  but,  notwithstanding, 
by  every  man's  self-labor  and  endeavors."  (Phil.  ii. 
12.)      And  the  author  proceeds  :  — 

"  To  this   mountain   you   shall   go  in   a  certain 


ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS.  267 

night,  when  it  comes,  most  long  and  most  dark 
[the  night  of  trial,  doubt,  trouble,  —  the  dark  wood 
of  Dante];  and  see  that  you  prepare  yourselves  by 
prayer.  Insist  upon  [pursue  only]  the  way  that 
leads  to  the  Mountain,  but  ask  not  of  any  [mere] 
man  where  the  way  lies ;  follow  only  your  Guide^ 
who  will  offer  himself  to  you,  and  will  meet  you  in 
the  way,  but  you  shall  not  know  him.  [Very  few, 
certainly,  recognize  the  conscience  as  the  oracle  of 
God,  —  the  guide  to  his  presence.]  This  Guide  will 
bring  you  to  the  Mountain  at  midnight,  when  all 
things  are  silent  and  dark  [at  the  point  of  greatest 
depression  in  a  worldly  sense].  It  is  necessary  that 
you  arm  yourself  with  a  resolute,  heroic  courage, 
lest  you  fear  those  things  that  will  happen  [trials  of 
the  conscience]  and  so  fall  back.  You  need  no 
sword  [except  that  of  the  Spirit],  nor  any  other 
bodily  weapons ;  only  call  upon  God  sincerely 
and  heartily.     [Invoke  the  aid  of  the  Greatest  and 

Best.] Be   resolute,    and  take   heed   that 

you  return  not,  for  your  Guide,  who  brought  you 
hither,  will  not  suffer  any  evil  to  befall  you.  ["  No 
man,  having  put  his  hand  to  the  plough,  and  look- 
ing back,  is  fit  for  the  kingdom  of  God."  Luke 
ix.  62.] 

"  As  for  the  Treasure,  it  is  not  yet  discovered,  but 
it  is  very  near." 


268        ALCHEMY  AND  THE  ALCHEMISTS. 

Various  trials  are  described,  as  violent  winds, 
an  earthquake,  and  a  fire,  "  consuming  the  earthly 
rubbish,"  and  then  "  after  all  these  things,  and  near 
the  daybreak,  there  shall  be  a  great  calm,  and  you 
shall  see  the  day-star  arise,  the  dawning  will  ap- 
pear, and  you  shall  perceive  a  great  Treasure. 
[The  calm  is  that  of  the  soul  surrendering  itself  to 
God.]  The  principal  thing  in  it,  and  the  most  per- 
fect, is  a  certain  exalted  Tmctiire,  with  which  the 
world,  if  it  served  God,  and  were  worthy  of  such 
gifts,  might  be  tinged,  and  turned  into  most  pure 
gold"  (perfect  goodness). 

The  Tincture  we  are  directed  to  use  as  the 
"  Guide  shall  teach,"  and  it  shall  make  the  old 
young,  &c.,  and  pearls  shall  be  discovered  "  of  such 
excellency  as  cannot  be  imagined." 

"  But  do  not  arrogate  anything  to  yourselves  be- 
cause of  your  present  power  [1  Cor.  iv.  6],  but  be 
contented  with  that  which  your  guide  [a  pure  con- 
science] shall  communicate  to  you.  Praise  God 
perpetually  for  this  his  gift,  and  have  a  special  care 
that  you  use  it  not  for  worldly  pride,  but  employ  it 
in  such  works  as  are  contrary  to  the  world.  Use  it 
rightly,  and  enjoy  it  so  as  if  you  had  it  not.  [To 
use  anything  rightly  is  simply  to  use  it  conscien- 
tiously ;  ---  and  no  gift  of  God  is  a  personal  posses- 


ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS.  269 

sioii,  but  a  trust,  which  is  substantially  lost  the 
moment  it  is  prized  as  an  exclusive  right.  This  is 
according  to  St.  Paul.]  Live  a  temperate  life, 
and  beware  of  all  sin,  otherwise  your  guide  will 
forsake  you,  and  you  shall  be  deprived  of  this  hap- 
piness. For  know  this  of  a  truth,  whosoever 
abuseth  this  Tincture,  and  lives  not  exemplary, 
purely,  and  devoutly  before  men,  he  shall  lose  this 
benefit^  and  scarce  any  hope  will  there  be  left  ever 
to  recover  it  afterwards." 

There  is  no  particular  mystery  in  this  concluding 
remark,  since  a  conscience  void  of  offence  can  be 
maintained  only  by  avoiding  offence.  Many  will 
think  the  simplicity  of  these  directions  is  not  wor- 
thy so  much  mystery  and  secrecy  as  these  writers 
throw  over  it ;  but  the  attempt  to  put  into  practice 
what  they  teach  may  turn  out  to  be  the  most  diffi- 
cult thing  in  the  world.  Beautiful  things  are  as 
difficult  as  rare,  says  Plato.  Let  him  who  standeth 
take  heed  lest  he  fall^  says  a  greater  authority. 

It  must  be  observed  that  the  guide  is  not  the 
spectacle,  but  the  way  to  it,  as  I  understand  these 
writers.  The  spectacle  itself  is  said  to  be  some- 
thing altogether  unique^  with  which  nothing  can  be 
compared,  and  though  at  last  "  involuntary,  it  comes 

23* 


270  ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS. 

unsought  to  none " :  hence  philosophy  echoes  the 
teaching  in  Matthew  vii.  7,  "  Ask,  and  it  shall  be 
given  you ;  seek,  and  ye  shall  find ;  knock,  and  it 
shall  be  opened  unto  you."     But  you  must  seek. 

I  commenced  these  Remarks  with  citations  to 
show  that  man  was  the  subject  of  Alchemy.  I  will 
here  add  another  passage  to  this  point,  taken  from 
Eyrenseus. 

"Our  Stone  is  the  representative  of  the  great 
world,  and  hath  the  virtues  of  that  great  fabric, 
comprised  or  collected  in  this  little  system.  In  it 
there  is  a  virtue  magnetical,  attractive  of  its  like  in 
the  whole  world.  It  is  the  Celestial  Virtue,  ex- 
pounded universally  in  the  whole  creation,  but 
epitomized  in  this  small  map  or  abridgment. 

"  This  Virtue  or  Power  is  in  itself  barren,  slug- 
gish, and  inactive,  and  for  this  reason  it  remaineth 
without  fruit ;  but  being  loosed  by  Art,  it  doth 
through  the  co-operation  of  Nature  [often  called 
Fire  or  Heat]    produce  that  Arcanum  which   hath 

not  its  like  in  the  whole  world The  reward 

which  this  Mastery  will  bring  to  the  Artist,  is  in- 
deed inestimable ;  for  having  it,  he  needs  want  no 
worldly  blessing.  For  wealth  he  need  take  no  care, 
and  from  all  frailties  of  body  he  hath  a  most  sure 
antidote. 


ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS.  271 

"  Pray  then  to  God,  that  he  would  be  propitious 
unto  your  studies  and  labors,  in  giving  thee  the 
true  knowledge  of  this  secret  mystery.  It  is  the 
gift  of  God.     I  have  helped  thee  what  T  can,  but 

VENTURE  NOT  TO  PRACTISE    BARELY  UPON  MY  WORDS  ; 

for  know  that  what  I  have  only  hinted,  is  far  more 
than  what  I  have  explained;  and  what  I  have  de- 
clared to  thy  first  apprehension  most  openly,  hath 
yet  its  lurking  serpent  under  the  green  grass;  I 
mean,  some  hidden  thing  which  thou  oughtest  to 
understand,  but  which  thou,  being  sure  at  first 
blush,  wdlt  neglect,  and  then  it  will  bite  thee  by 
the  heel  when  thou  approachest  to  practice,  and 
make  thee  begin  again,  and,  it  may  be,  at  last 
throw  away  all,  as  one  desperate ;  for  know  that 
this  Art  is  very  Cabalistical,  and  we  do  study  ex- 
pressions such  as  we  know  will  suit  with  almost 
any  man's  fancy,  in  one  place  or  another;  but  be 
sure  to  take  this  maxim  from  one  who  knows  best 
the  sense  of  what  he  hath  written:  Where  we 
speak  most  plainly,  there  be  most  circumspect ;  for 
we  do  not  go  about  to  betray  the  secrets  of  nature  ; 
especially  then  in  those  places  which  seem  to  give 
receipts  as  plain  as  you  would  desire,  suspect  either 
a  metaphor,  or  else  be  sure  that  something  or  other 
is  suppressed,  which  thou  wilt  hardly  without  in- 


272  ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS. 

spiration  ever  find  of  thyself,  and  which  in  trial  will 
make  all  thy  confident  knowledge  vanish  ;  yet  to  a 
Son  of  Art,  we  have  written  that  which  never  here- 
tofore was  by  any  so  clearly  revealed," 

Eyrenseus  concludes  his  book  upon  Ripley,  after 
a  minute  though  cabalistical  account  of  the  opera- 
tions^ in  these  words  :  — 

"  The  cause  of  all  these  strange  alterations  in 
one  glass,  on  one  subject,  with  one  decoction,  with- 
out any  laying  on  of  hands,  lies  in  the  Internal 
Disposition  of  the  Compound^  which  at  the  first  is 
gross  and  earthy  [St.  Paul's  natural  man,  gentle 
reader] :  therefore  in  decoction  it  becomes  very  black, 
it  being  the  nature  of  all  moist  gross  things  by  the 
Fire  to  acquire  such  a  color.  And  this  is  according 
to  the  teaching  of  all  Philosophers ;  for,  although 
thou  seekest  White  and  Red,  yet  thou  must  at  first 
make  Black,  before  thou  canst  make  White  prof- 
itably. 

"  O  Happy  Gate  of  Blackness,  which  art  the  pas- 
sage to  this  so  great  a  change!  Study,  therefore, 
whoever  appliest  thyself  to  this  Art,  only  to  know 
this  secret;  for  know  this  and  know  all,  and,  con- 
trariwise, be  ignorant  of  this  and  be  ignorant  of  all. 

"  But  when  once  thy  Matter  is  become  truly 
Black,  rejoice;   for  this  death  of  the  Body  will  be 


ALCHEMY  AND  THE  ALCHEMISTS.        273 

the  quickening  of  the  Spirit,  and  then  both  Soul 
and  Body  will  unite  into  a  perfect  whiteness,  which 
is  our  Kingly  Diadem^ 

The  death  of  the  Body,  to  which  reference  is  here 
and  elsewhere  made  in  these  writings,  I  assume,  of 
course,  is  that  to  which  St.  Paul  refers ;  as,  in  Ro- 
mans vi.  6,  where  he  calls  it  the  death  of  the 
Body  of  Sin. 

I  find  a  remarkable  allusion  to  the  triple  nature 
of  Man  in  Plutarch's  Miscellanies  (on  Morals),  and 
two  deaths  referred  to  as  necessary  for  the  libera- 
tion of  man  to  bring  him  into  a  right  state.  The 
passage  is  so  peculiar,  that  I  will  take  leave  to  copy 
it  as  a  curiosity,  observing  that  the  Miscellanies  are 
full  of  the  opinions  of  ancient  philosophers  upon  the 
nature  of  man,  having  now  but  little  more  than  an 
historical  value.  In  the  English  translation,  pub- 
lished in  1694,  Plutarch  sometimes  is  made  to  use 
the  word  77iind^  and  sometimes  understandings  for 
what  is  now  often  called  5/?m7;  in  some  places  he 
uses  the  word  Discourse  as  the  Woi'd,  especially  in 
Isis  and  Osiris ^  apparently  in  the  sense  of  John  i.  1. 

The  passage  to  which  I  refer  occurs  in  the  tract 
entitled  Of  the  Face  appearing  in  the  Orb  of  the 
Moon ;  to  wit :  — - 


274  ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS. 

"  The  common  opinion,  and  that  which  most  per- 
sons hold,  is,  that  Man  is  a  compound  subject ;  and 
this  they  have  reason  to  believe.  But  they  are  mis- 
taken in  thinking  him  to  be  compounded  of  two 
parts  only ;  for  they  imagine  that  the  Understand- 
ing is  a  part  of  the  Soul ;  but  the  Understanding  as 
far  exceeds  the  Soul,  as  the  Soul  is  better  and  more 
divine  than  the  Body.  Now  this  composition  of 
the  Soul  with  the  Understanding  makes  Reason ; 
but  with  the  Body,  Passion;  of  which  this  is  the 
beginning  or  principle  of  pleasure  and  pain,  and 
that  of  virtue  and  vice.  Of  these  three  parts,  con- 
joined and  compacted  together,  the  Earth  has  given 
the  Body,  the  Moon  the  Soul,  and  the  Sun  the 
Understanding  to  the  generation  of  man.  Now',  of 
the  deaths  we  die,  the  one  makes  two  of  three,  and 
the  other  one  of  two.  And  the  former  indeed  is  in 
the  region  and  jurisdiction  of  Ceres,  which  is  the 

reason  of  our  sacrificing  to  her As  for  the 

other  death,  it  is  in  the  Moon,  or  region  of  Proser- 
pina. And  as  with  the  one  the  Terrestrial,  so  with 
the  other  the  Celestial  Mercury  inhabits.  This  sud- 
denly and  with  force  and  violence  plucks  the  Soul 
from  the  Body ;  but  Proserpina  mildly  and  in  a 
long  time  disjoins  the  Understanding  from  the  Soul. 
And  for  this  reason  is  she  called  the  Only  Begotten, 


ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS.  275 

or  rather,  Begetting  One  alone;  for  the  better  part 
of  Man  becomes  alone,  when  it  is  separated  by  her. 
Now  both  the  one  and  the  other  happens  according 
to  Nature  thus:  [Here  follow  two  or  three  pages 
of  mystical  explanation,  and  we  encounter  this 
passage :]  — 

"  The  Soul  being  moulded  and  formed  by  the 
Understanding,  and  itself  moulding  and  forming  the 
Body,  by  embracing  it  on  every  side,  receives  from 
it  an  impression  and  Form,  so  that,  although  it  be 
separated  both  from  the  Understanding  and  the 
Body,  it  nevertheless  so  retains  still  its  figure  and 
semblance  for  a  long  time  that  it  may  with  good 
right  be  called  its  image The  Understand- 
ing is  that  which  is  sovereign  over  all  the  rest,  and 
cannot  be  made  to  suffer  by  any." 

In  Plutarch's  Banquet  of  the  Seven  Wise  Men, 
the  following  passage  occurs  :  — 

"  Since  Thales  has  asserted  the  Being  of  a  Soul 
in  all  the  principal  and  most  noble  parts  of  the 
Universe,  it  is  no  wonder  that  the  most  commend- 
able acts  are  governed  by  an  overruling  power,  for 
as  the  Body  is  the  organ  of  the  Soul,  so  the  Soul  is 
an  instrument  in  the  hand  of  God.  [In  the  previous 
extract  this  is  called  the  Understanding.]  Now  as 
the  Body  has  many  motions  of  its  own,  proceeding 


276        ALCHEMY  AND  THE  ALCHEMISTS. 

from  itself,  but  the  best  and  most  from  the  Soul,  so 
the  Soul  acts  some  things  by  its  own  power,  but  in 
most  things  it  is  subordinate  to  the  will  and  power 
of  God  whose  glorious  instrument  it  is." 

In  the  Discourse  concernitig'  the  Dmmon  of  Soc- 
rates, Plutarch  introduces  a  speaker  as  saying :  — 

"  Every    Soul    hath    some    portion    of    Reason 

[here  Reason  is  used  for  the   Understanding,  that 

is,  the  Spirit,  or,  in  other  words,  the  Spirit  of  God] ; 

a  man  cannot  be  a  man  without  it ;  but  as  much  as 

she  mixes  with  flesh  and  appetite  is  changed ;  and 

through  pain  or  pleasure  becomes  irrational.     Every 

« 
Soul  doth  not  mix  herself  alike,  for  some  plunge 

themselves  into  the  Body,  and  so  in  this  life  their 

whole  frame  is  corrupted  by  appetite  and  passion; 

others  are  mixed  as  to  some  part,  but  the  purer  part 

still  remains  without   the  Body ;    't  is  not  drawn 

down  into  it,  but  it  swims  above,  and  touches  the 

extremest  part  of  the  man's  head.     'T  is  like  a  cord 

to  hold  up,  as  long  as  it  proves  obedient,  and  is  not 

overcome  by  the  appetites  of  the  flesh.     The  part 

that  is  plunged  into  the  Body  is  called  the  Soul, 

but  the  uncorrupted  part  is  called  the  Mind  [Spirit], 

and  the  vulgar  think  it  is  within  them,  just  as  they 

imagine  the  image  reflected  from  a  glass  to  be  in 

the  ^lass ;  but  the  more  intelligent,  who  know  it  to 

be  without,  call  it  a  Daemon." 


^ 


ALCHEMY  AND  THE  ALCHEMISTS.        277 

We  may  observe  in  these  extracts  from  Plutarch, 
which  must  not  be  understood  as  expressing  his 
own  opinions,  for  they  occur  in  dialogues,  how  the 
notion  of  the  Spirit  (understanding,  reason,  or  what- 
ever it  may  be  called)  floats,  as  it  were,  between 
heaven  and  earth,  one  speaker  placing  it  in  man, 
another  referring  to  it  as  out  of  man,  acting  upon 
him  as  the  Spirit  of  God.  I  only  cite  these  pas- 
sages to  show  that  the  idea  of  a  triple  nature  in 
man  is  not  uncommon  in  the  world ;  but  I  do  not 
refer  to  them  as  a  key  to  the  opinions  of  the  Al- 
chemists. 

From  the  writings  of  the  latter  I  hsfVe  brought 
together  many  extracts,  and  if  any  one  can  read 
them  and  still  think  that  the  authors  were  in  pur- 
suit of  gold,  I  must  leave  him  in  his  opinion.  If  he 
had  lived  in  the  age  when  the  works  were  written, 
he  would  most  likely  have  been  among  those  who 
read  them  literally,  and,  so  understanding  them, 
sought  the  secret  in  metals.  This  was  the  class  of 
men  who  gave  occasion  for  the  present  reputation 
of  the  peculiar  thinkers  they  so  entirely  misunder- 
stood. 

The  author  of  these  Remarks  need  not  be  told 
that  there  were  false  Alchemists,  both  those  that 

24 


278  ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS. 

were  simply  mistaken  and  those  who  impudently 
imposed  upon  the  public.  He  contends  that,  not- 
withstanding the  just  reputation  of  this  class  of 
self-seekers,  the  genuine  Alchemists  were  students 
of  Nature,  perfectly  honest  in  their  purposes,  aiming 
at  the  Summum  Bonum;  and  it  may  be  well  for 
those  who  in  this  age  refuse  all  credit  to  their  pre- 
tensions not  to  deny  at  the  same  time  that  God  has 
placed  within  the  reach  of  every  man  a  true  good, 
however  difficult  its  discovery  may  be,  or  rather, 
however  slow  and  apparently  unwilling  men  may 
be  to  believe  that  it  can  be  found  in  a  true  life. 
No  one  denies,  indeed,  theoretically,  the  value  of  a 
true  life.  It  is  universally  admitted  to  be  indis- 
pensable to  a  happy  life,  but  almost  all  men  place 
something  else  as  first  in  order,  although,  when  ex- 
amined, that  something  turns  out  to  be  only  a 
means  to  some  end,  whereas  in  a  true  life  both  the 
means  and  the  end  unite  and  become  one. 

The  key,  therefore,  to  a  true  life  is  nothing  else 
but  a  true  life  itself;  and  this  is  the  root  of  all  phi- 
losophy which  aims  at  the  elevation  of  man,  and,  in 
fine,  it  is  the  root  of  truth  itself,  or  rather  it  is 
root,  body,  and  branches. 

In  vain,  therefore,  do  men  go  out  of  themselves 
for  that  which  can  only  be  found  within ;  and  as 


ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS.  279 

this  is  both  the  oldest  and  newest  truth  in  the 
world,  so  is  it  the  most  simple  and  open,  while  yet  it 
is  the  most  hidden  and  secret  thing  in  the  world,  — 
open  and  simple  to  those  who  accept  it  in  its  own 
spirit,  but  dark  and  obscure  when  sought  after  as 
something  to  be  found  abroad,  and  to  be  explained 
and  understood^  as  the  expression  is. 

Yet  as  often  as  I  refer  to  what  may  seem  the 
sinniplicity  of  the  work,  I  feel  obliged  to  repeat  that 
this  is  but  the  Way;  the  End  being,  as  I  under- 
stand the  matter,  a  further  development,  the  re- 
ward of  those  who  "  persevere  to  the  end  in  well- 
doing." 

When  the  Alchemists  speak  of  a  long  life,  as  one 
of  the  gifts  of  the  Stone,  they  mean  immortality ; 
when  they  attribute  to  the  Stone  the  virtues  of  a 
universal  medicine,  the  cure  of  all  diseases,  they 
mean  to  deny  a  positive  nature  to  evil,  and  thus 
deny  its  perpetuity;  when  they  tell  us  that  the 
Stone  is  the  "cut-throat  of  covetousness  and  of 
all  evil  desires,"  they  mean  that  all  evil  affections 
disappear  in  the  light  of  truth,  as  darkness  yields 
to  the  presence  of  light. 

They  cultivated  simplicity  of  life  as  a  positive 
good,  and  systematically  avoided  all  excesses,  —  all 
extremes.      They  even   warn   those  who   seek   the 


280  ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS. 

Stone,  to  pursue  their  studies  with  an  unanxious 
patience  and  moderation;  at  the  same  time,  how- 
ever, they  tell  the  seeker  that  his  search  must  on  no 
account  be  intermitted.  Here,  as  elsewhere,  they 
guard  against  extremes,  cautioning  the  student 
neither  to  let  his  "  matter  grow  cold,"  nor  "  to  burn 
his  flowers  with  too  much  heat." 

Thus,  to  the  maxim.  Know  Thyself,  they  added 
its  younger  brother.  Nothing  too  Much  ;  for  as 
man  occupies  a  middle  position  in  Nature  between 
the  air  and  the  earth,  so  the  recognition  and  pos- 
session of  a  certain  indescribable  mean  in  his  own 
nature  may  protect  him  from  all  vicious  extremes, 
and  secure  the  best  ground  of  hope  even  here  of  a 
"  sound  mind  in  a  sound  body." 

By  the  transmutation  of  metals,  the  Alchemists 
meant  the  conversion  of  man  from  a  lower  to  a 
higher  order  of  existence ;  from  what  is  commonly 
called  a  natural,  to  a  spiritual  life,  though  these 
much  used  and  little  understood  expressions  cannot 
precisely  make  known  their  true  meaning.  By 
"  fires,"  "  menstruums,"  and  many  such  expressions, 
they  intended  to  signify  the  powers  of  nature, 
which,  though  separated  in  "number,"  were  re- 
garded as  working  in  one  nature,  and  therefore  in 
unison^  the  writers  vrith  one  voice  denying  that  there 


ALCHEMY  AND  THE  ALCHEMISTS.        281 

is  any  absolute  disorder  in  the  works  of  God,  where 
all  "  discord  is  harmony  not  understood." 

The  curious  reader  may  see  much  of  this  very 
subject  artistically  illustrated  in  the  fourteenth  and 
fifteenth  chapters  of  Carlyle's  translation  of  the 
Travels  of  Wilhelm  Meister,  where  the  Son  of 
Anac,  St.  Christopher,  personates  Nature,  reducing'  all 
minor  harmonies  to  itself,  and  compelling  those  ivho 
'-^play  Old  of  tune''^  to  come  again  into  the  general 
concord;  for  Goethe  was  a  cunning  Alchemist  in 
his  way,  and  knew  better  than  any  modern  writer 
how  to  screen  his  deepest  thoughts  in  symbolism, 
which  even  Jeffrey,  with  all  his  talent,  could  not  see 
through,  as  his  criticism  upon  Wilhelm  Meister 
sufficiently  shows. 

In  saying  a  word  or  two  of  the  Fires,  I  beg  the 
reader  to  credit  me  when  1  declare  that  I  only  wish 
to  show  a  probability  that  the  writers  intended  to 
refer  to  the  powers  of  and  in  nature ;  and  that  by 
the  Three  Fires,  sometimes  called  Menstruums,  and 
again,  at  times,  called  Dissolvents,  they  referred  to 
their  so-called  three  principles,  or  trinity  in  unity, 
the  chief  being  of  an  "inseparable  oneness"  (the 
expression  of  Eyrenseus)  yet  having  two  "  compo- 
nents," each  of  which  being  in  its  kind  a  Fire  or 
menstruum,  composed  likewise  of  other  two  com- 

24* 


282  ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS. 

pounds  passing  into  the  first  in  some  inexplicable 
way,  though  possibly  to  an  imaginative  reader  not 
altogether  inconceivable. 

The  "components"  I  suppose  to  be  symbolized 
by  Sol  and  Luna,  as  the  active  and  passive  princi- 
ples of  nature,  or  cause  and  effect  included  in  one 
self-existence,  and  these  same  principles,  I  suppose, 
are  alluded  to  by  Goethe  in  the  fourteenth  chapter 
of  Meister's  Travels,  where,  undoubtedly,  the  author 
describes  symboKcally  his  own  studies  into  the 
depths  of  nature ;  in  the  prosecution  of  which  he 
is  led  to  an  extraordinary  spectacle,  in  which  he 
sees  '•'■male  and  feiiiale  forms  [the  "components"], 
of  gigantic  power,  in  violent  postm-es,"  which,  he 
says,  "reminded  one  of  that  lordly  fight  between 
heroic  youths  and  Amazons,  wherein  hate  and  en- 
mity at  last  issue  in  mutually  regretful  alliance." 

These  two  principles  are  the  two  "  great  lumina- 
ries" referred  to  by  Espagnet,  there  being  nothing 
in  nature  without  them,  though  the  words  Sol  and 
Luna  are  applied  to  a  great  multitude  of  doubles 
besides  what  are  sometimes  called  natura  naturans 
and  natura  yiaturata;  as,  nature  and  man,  &c.,  &c. 

Eyrenaeus  speaks  of  the  same  two  principles,  and 
refers  to  their  harmony  in  one  other  thing,  including 
them  both,  as  follows :  — 


ALCHEMY  AND  THE  ALCHEMISTS.        283 

"  The  Bodies  "  —  everywhere,  by  the  way,  these 
writers  thus  speak  of  one,  two,  or  three  somethings^ 
without  telling  the  reader  what  the  somethings  are 
—  "  The  Bodies,  when  they  are  dissolved,  do  trans- 
mute the  foresaid  mercuries,  by  their  own  ferment, 
into  their  own  nature ;  for  the  Fire  of  Nature  assim- 
ilates all  that  nourishes  it  to  its  own  likeness ;  and 
then  our  Mercury  or  Menstrue  vanishes,  that  is,  it  is 
swallowed  up  in  the  Solary  Nature,  and  all  together 
make  but  one  universal  Mercury,  by  intimate  union, 
and  this  Mercury  is  the  material  principle  of  the 
Stone ;  for  before,  our  Mercury  (as  it  was  com- 
pounded of  three  mercuries)  had  in  it  two  which 
were  superficial,  and  the  third  essential  to  Sol  and 
Luna  only,  not  to  the  Stone :  for  Nature  would 
produce  these  two  out  of  it  by  artificial  decoction  : 
but  when  the  perfect  Bodies  are  dissolved,  they  are 
transmuted  with  the  Mercury  that  dissolved  them, 
and  then  there  is  no  more  repugnancy  in  it,  —  then 
is  there  no  longer  a  distinction  between  superficial 
and  essejitial,  but  all  becomes  essential. 

"  And  this  is  that  one  matter  of  the  Stone  ;  that 
one  thing  which  is  the  subject  of  all  wonders. 

"  When  thou  art  come  to  this,  then  shalt  thou  no 
more  discern  a  distinction  between  the  Dissolver 
and  the  Dissolved;  for  the  water  shall  neither  ascend 


284        ALCHEMY  AND  THE  ALCHEMISTS. 

nor  descend,  go  out  nor  in  alone,  but  the  Fire  of 
Nature  shall  accompany  it,  and  the  color  of  the 
mature  Sulphur^  which  is  inseparably  joined,  shall 
tincture  thy  water;  so  that  thou  shalt  never  see 
them  severed  one  from  the  other,  but  shall  discern 
them  by  the  effect,  and  by  the  eye  of  thy  mind,  more 
than  of  thy  body." 

As  my  object  is  to  point  out  the  subject  of  Al- 
chemy, and  as  I  neither  expect  to  make  its  treat- 
ment plain,  to  the  end  of  the  tvork,  nor  to  defend  it, 
I  will  here  add  one  or  two  passages  from  Plotinus, 
to  show  by  a  similitude  of  idea  that  the  subject  of 
Alchemy  was  the  same  as  that  of  the  Neo-Platonist, 
to  wit,  Man,  and  his  relation  to  God. 

Plotinus  has  been  almost  universally  set  down  as 
a  dreamer,  and  it  is  not  my  province  to  dissent 
from  this  very  convenient  resort  for  those  who  have 
no  taste  for  the  subjects  he  dealt  with.  Possibly 
the  truth  may  be  that  Plotinus  was  himself  less 
of  a  dreamer  than  many  who  have  read  his  works 
through  their  own  imaginations,  for  here  lies  a  prin- 
cipal difficulty  on  this  subject.  If  any  one  reads 
Plotinus,  or  Plato,  or  any  other  writer  upon  the 
topics  they  discussed,  and  forgets  that  the  sources 
of  truth  are  equally  open  to  us  all,  he  can  hardly 


ALCHEMY  AND  THE  ALCHEMISTS.        285 

escape  delusion,  which,  however,  is  rather  in  him- 
self than  in  those  authors. 

As  a  parallel  to  the  passage  from  Eyrenseus 
touching  the  unity  or  oneness  of  the  dissolvent  and 
the  dissolved^  I  refer  to  the  following  from  Plotinus, 
where  he  is  treating  of  what  he  calls  the  Good  or 
the  One.  The  author  supposes  the  soul  properly 
prepared  for  the  vision^  which  he  also  speaks  of  as 
"  a  light  acceding  to  the  soid^^^  and  then  says  :  — 
"  Perhaps,  however,  it  must  not  be  said  that  he  sees, 
but  that  he  is  the  thing  see7i,  if  it  be  necessary  to 
call  these  things  tiuo ;  i.  e.  the  perceiver  [the  dis- 
solved] and  the  perceived  [the  dissolvent].  But 
both  are  one ;  though  it  is  bold  to  assert  this. 
Then,  indeed,  the  soul  neither  sees,  nor  distin- 
guishes by  seeing,  nor  imagines  that  there  are  two 
things,  but  becomes  as  it  were  another  thing,  and 
not  itself.  Nor  does  that  which  pertains  to  itself 
contribute  anything  here.  But  becoming  wholly 
absorbed  in  Deity  [swallowed  up  in  the  Solary 
Nature,  as  Eyrenseus  expresses  it],  she  is  one,  con- 
joining centre  with  centre Hence  this  spec- 
tacle is  a  thing  difficult  to  explain  by  words.  For 
how  can  any  one  narrate  that  as  something  different 
from  himself,  which,  when  he  sees  it,  he  does  not 
behold  as  different,  but  as  one  with  himself  ?  " 


286  ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS. 

For  a  parallel  to  the  expression  of  joining  centre 
to  centre^  used  by  Plotinus,  I  refer  again  to  Eyre- 
naeus,  who  speaks  of  the  Bodies,  meaning  Sol  and 
Luna,  as  being  compared  by  writers  to  mountains, 
either  because,  as  he  says,  they  are  found  in  moun- 
tains, or  by  way  of  opposition  :  "  for,  as  mountains 
are  highest  above  ground,  so  they  [the  active  and 
passive  principles  of  nature]  lie  deepest  under 
ground  " ;  and  then  adds,  in  his  own  dialect :  — 

"  But  the  name  is  not  of  so  much  consequence : 
take  the  Body,  which  is  gold  [man],  and  throw  it 
into  Mercury,  such  a  Mercury  as  is  Bottomless, 
that  is,  whose  centre  it  can  never  find  but  by  discov- 
ering its  oivn,^^  &c. 

How  can  any  one  fail  to  see  that  Eyrenseus  and 
Plotinus  were  treating  of  the  same  thing,  and  that 
each  of  them  would  have  man  seek  the  ceyitre  of  the 
universe  in  himself,  assuring  us  that,  when  found, 
the  dissolvent  and  dissolved  will  be  known  to  be 
ONE?  This  is  that  centre  which  is  said  to  be 
everywhere,  but  whose  circumference  is  said  to  be 
nowhere ;  and  if  a  man  cannot  find  it  in  his  own 
nature,  —  I  do  not  say  in  himself  as  a  phenomenal 
individual,  —  where  shall  he  look  for  it?  In  the 
nature  of  another  ?  He  will  have  knowledge  of 
that  other  nature  but  through  his  own  nature. 


ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS.  287 

This  so-called  centre  has  never  been  named  by 
any  word  conveying  an  idea  of  it,  neither  has  it 
ever  been  described  or  defined  so  that  a  mere  reader, 
who  is  not  also  a  thinker,  can  obtain  any  notion  of 
it.  It  has  been  called  by  a  word  of  two  letters,  as 
also  by  words  of  three,  of  four,  of  five,  of  six,  and  of 
seven  letters,  and  by  w^ords  of  many  syllables  as 
well  as  letters.  It  has  been  ti'cated  of  in  figures 
and  symbols  in  infinite  ways.  Probably  no  single 
building  in  the  world  would  contain  the  books  that 
have  been  written  about  it.  It  has  been  called  the 
one,  the  middle,  the  equilibrium,  the  eternal,  the 
unchangeable,  the  immutable,  the  self-sufficient,  the 
self-existent,  &c.,  and  yet  not  any  of  these  words 
serve  to  make  it  known ;  and  the  moment  any  name 
is  acknowledged  for  it,  the  word  becomes  "  ill- 
assorted,"  and  its  sense  passes  out  of  view  ;  and  yet 
this  centre  remains  the  sole  foundation  of  philos- 
ophy, without  which  or  out  of  which  no  man  can 
feel  any  assured  and  continued  conviction  that  he 
has  the  truth.  Most  men  supply  the  w^ant  of  it, 
w^hen  felt,  by  nerving  the  will  to  the  performance  of 
certain  more  or  less  reasonably  supposed  duties  or 
ceremonies ;  and  make  it  a  point  of  conscience  to 
war  against  whatever  brings  such  a  disposition  into 
question  ;  because,  indeed,  to  speak  in  the  language 


288  ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS. 

of  Alchemy,  the  aiin  to  be  right  is  the  white  state  of 
the  Stone,  which,  though  "incombustible,"  as  the 
writers  say,  admits,  nevertheless,  of  a  higher  perfec- 
tion, when  the  aim  to  be  right  becomes  the  right 
aim;  for  then  the  truth  is  possessed  free  from  all 
sense  of  doubt  or  struggle,  with  a  sort  of  infinite  or 
inexpressible  conviction  that  it  never  has  been,  and 
never  can  be,  other  than  it  is ;  and  that  whatever 
does  not  share  it  must  perish.  No  man  ever  had  a 
glimpse  of  it,  who  did  not  feel  his  whole  being  car- 
ried away  by  it;  and  upon  such  a  man  all  elo- 
quence is  wasted,  the  aim  of  which  is  to  win  him 
to  renounce  the  vision. 

As  a  still  further  illustration  of  the  probable 
meaning  of  Eyrenseus,  I  find  a  passage  in  Crau- 
ford's  India,  which  some  may  think  much  to  the 
point.  In  reference  to  the  philosophy  of  the  Hin- 
doos, Crauford  introduces  a  commentary  upon  the 
Vcdanta  school,  by  Dr.  I.  Taylor,  in  which  we  may 
easily  fancy  we  see  an  allusion  to  the  two  Lumina- 
ries of  Espagnet,  and  their  unity,  to  wit:  — 

"  I  think  we  may  infer  that  the  philosophy  of  the 
followers  of  the  Vedanta  school  is  founded  on  the 
contemplation  of  one  Infinite  Being,  existing  under 
two  states  or  modifications.      The   first,  that  of  a 


ALCHEMY    AND  THE    ALCHEMISTS.  289 

pure,  simple,  abstract  essence,  immovable  and  quies- 
cent ;  the  second,  that  of  Being  displaying  motion, 
or  active  qualities.  Under  the  first  modification  he 
is  named  Brimh,  or  the  Great  Beings  and  Kutasth, 
or  He  wlio  sitteth  on  high;  under  the  second,  he  is 
named  Eesh,  the  Lord,  and  Jiv,  the  Soul;  or,  to 
adapt  this  explanation  to  the  division  already  given 
of  these  modifications,  and  to  the  example  by  which 
they  were  illustrated,  we  should  say  that  Brimh  is 
Being  in  its  state  of  simple  essence ;  Eesh  is  Being 
exerting  energy,  and  causing  the  phenomena  of  the 
material  universe ;  Kutasth  is  Being  existing  in 
sensitive  creatures  in  its  pure,  simple  state.  But 
perhaps  it  would  be  more  agreeable  to  the  etymol- 
ogy of  the  words  to  call  Eesh  the  principle  of  en- 
ergy or  power,  and  Jiv  the  principle  of  sensation. 

"Everything  rests  on  Brimh,  or  Being;  but  to 
him  is  more  immediately  referred  Eesh,  or  power; 
and  to  Kutasth  is  referred  Jiv,  or  sensation." 

Here  we  have  the  One,  and  tivo  attributes,  as 
som.e  moderns  have  called  them ;  or,  nature  consid- 
ered in  itself,  then  natura  naturans,  or  nature  active, 
and  natura  naturata,  or  nature  passive ;  or,  in  other 
words,  nature  as  cause  and  nature  as  effect.  Yet 
the  Hindoo  considered  all  as  One,  for  the  comment 
proceeds  as  follows  :  — 

25 


290        ALCHEMY  AND  THE  ALCHEMISTS. 

"  In  common  books  and  language,  these  terms 
denote  separate  individual  beings ;  and  also  in 
some  philosophical  systems,  Brimh,  or  Being,  and 
Jiv,  that  which  feels,  are  considered  distinct  and 
different  beings;  but  the  Vedantas  deny  a  plural- 
ity of  Beings^  and  assert  that  the  visible  phenomena 
and  sensation  are  only  accidents  of  one  Infinite 
Being,  though,  in  order  to  be  understood,  .they 
speak  of  them  as  distinct  existences ;  hence,  then, 
it  appears  that  the  Vedanta  philosophy  is  distin- 
guished from  all  the  other  systems,  by  teaching 
that  the  universe  consists  of  one  undivided  indivisi- 
ble Beings  and  motion 

"  The  reason  assigned  for  attending  to  these  dis- 
tinctions also  corroborates  the  explanation  we  have 
offered.  It  is  not  to  point  out  different  substances, 
or  beings,  but  to  conduct  the  mind  to  the  knowl- 
edge of  that  one  and  all-pervading  essence,  in 
which  the  modifications  exist,  from  which  result  the 
distinctions  we  observe.  Unless  the  nature  of  these 
distinctions  were  understood,  the  soul  must  remain 
ignorant  of  its  own  nature  [cannot  Know  Itself], 
and  continue  for  ever  under  the  delusion  that  it  is 
a  sensitive,  finite,  individual  being;  but  when,  by 
investigating  these  distinctions,  it  comprehends  the 
modifications  from  which  they  arise,  the  delusion  is 


ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS.  291 

dispelled,  and  it  knows  itself  to  be  one,  infinite  and 

eternal 

"  They  who  are  ignorant  of  the  undivided  Being, 
Brimh,  the  principle,  the  impassible  one,  dispute 
concerning  Jiv  and  Eesh,  the  soul  and  divine  spirit; 
but  when  this  delusion  is  dispersed,  all  these  dis- 
tinctions vanish,  and  there  exists  only  one  quies- 
cent spirit." 

I  hope  the  reader  does  not  imagine  I  would  refer 
him  to  Hindoo  philosophy  or  mysticism  for  his 
faith.  My  object,  by  such  extracts,  is  simply  to  in- 
dicate a  correspondence  of  thought,  by  which  it 
may  seem  probable  that  the  genuine  Alchemist  had 
some  mode  of  conceiving  all  things  as  owe,  in  some 
sense,  and  that  his  speculations  had  no  reference 
whatever  to  making  gold.  Let  the  student,  if  he 
would  make  trial  of  their  system,  first  put  himself 
into  perfect  unity  in  his  own  conscience,  —  let  him 
be  absolutely  right  himself,  —  and  he  may  then  dis- 
cover in  what  the  distractions  of  life  consist,  and  in 
what  sense  even  these  make  an  inseparable  part  of 
the  true  Unity. 

I  have  no  wish  to  recommend  these  studies,  for  I 
very  well  know  that  Goethe  had  his  eye  upon  such 
speculations  in  the  remark,  expressing  the  most  pro- 


292        ALCHEMY  AND  THE  ALCHEMISTS. 

found  experience,  that  man  is  not  born  to  solve  the 
problem  of  the  miiverse,  though,  he  added,  he 
must  make  the  attempt  in  order  to  know  how  to 
restrain  himself  within  the  limits  of  the  comprehen- 
sible. Even  Eyrenaeus  has  the  candor  to  caution 
the  student  not  to  attempt  to  practise  barely  upon 
his  words.  Why,  then,  did  he  write  ?  Perhaps 
only  to  awaken  attention  and  stimulate  a  curiosity 
which,  though  ordinary  in  its  origin,  might  never- 
theless have  a  divine  issue,  —  as  "  Saul  found  a 
kingdom  while  seeking  his  father's  asses." 

As  another  parallel  I  will  cite  the  following :  — 
"  It  is  a  certain  truth,"  says  Eudoxus,  in  the  Hermet- 
ical  Triumph,  "  that,  in  all  the  different  states  of  the 
Stone,  the  tivo  things  that  are  united  to  give  it  a 
new  birth  come  from  one  sole  and  same  thing;  it 
is  upon  this  foundation  of  nature  that  Cosmopolita 
supports  the  incontestable  truth  in  our  Philosophy, 
that  is  to  say,  that  of  one  is  made  two,  and  of  tivo 
one ;  in  ivhich  all  operations,  natural  and  philosoph- 
ical, are  terminated  ivithout  the  possibility  of  going 
furtherP 

So,  Plotinus  says,  "  all  things  are  double,  and  the 
one  is  two  :  and  again,  tivo  passes  into  one."  (Page 
467  of  Taylor's  Select  Works  of  Plotinus.) 


ALCHEMY  AND  THE  ALCHEMISTS.        293 

Two  of  the  principles  of  the  Alchemists  are  often 
called  extremes,  but  an  invisible  one  includes  the 
two  inseparably,  as  one  idea  with  two  images ;  or, 
as  we  may  say,  one  nature  of  spirit  and  matter ; 
or,  again,  as  in  the  microcosm,  one  man  of  Soul 
and  Body. 

When  the  idea  is  once  realized,  its  illustrations 
become  visible  and  multitudinous.  As  a  very  sim- 
ple example,  in  Plutarch's  Isis  and  Osiris,  we  read 
that,  "  wronging  and  being  wronged  being  two  ex- 
tremes, caused  by  excess  and  deficiency,  justice 
came  by  equality  in  the  middle."  Justice  is  the 
great  regulating  principle  of  the  universe,  operating 
silently  and  invisibly,  but  as  surely  as  it  is  abso- 
lutely beyond  the  control  of  man.  It  is  the  immov- 
able fulcrum  of  the  balance,  —  the  central  point  of 
the  magnet  with  its  two  poles,  neither  of  which 
constitutes  a  magnet  by  itself. 

We  may  see,  also,  —  whether  it  has  anything  to 
do  with  the  subject  or  not,  —  that  we  have  not  two 
distinct  senses  by  which  to  determine  or  form  an 
opinion  of  what  is  right  and  what  is  wrong ;  but 
only  one  sense  variously  affected.  The  same  sense 
determines  for  us  what  is  wrong,  which  is  employed 
in  deciding  upon  what  is  right,  and  if  this  "  eye  be 
dark,  how  great  is  the  darkness." 

25* 


294        ALCHEMY  AND  THE  ALCHEMISTS. 

Desire,  again,  is  by  some  said  to  be  the  root  of 
all  the  passions,  which  are  manifested  in  doubles. 
Thus,  joy  is  desire  gratified ;  sorrow  is  desire  ob- 
structed or  defeated :  hope  is  the  prospect  of  grat- 
ified desire  ;  fear,  the  prospect  of  defeated  desire ;  — 
and  so  on  for  a  long  train  of  doubles,  the  latter 
belonging  to  the  superficial  class,  —  to  excess  or 
deficiency  as  Plato  might  say  (see  the  Statesman), 
—  coming  and  going  in  time,  while  the  essential 
remains,  in  itself  invisible  and  out  of  relation  to 
time,  —  a  perpetual  activity,  or  conatus^  as  it  was 
formerly  called. 

But  desire  and  love  are  almost  synonymous 
terms,  for  we  love  and  seek  what  we  desire,  and  so 
also  Vv'e  desire  and  seek  what  we  love :  yet  neither 
love  nor  desire  is  by  any  necessary  connection  di- 
rected to  one  thing  rather  than  another,  but  either, 
under  conditions  suitable  to  it,  may  be  directed  to 
anything ;  from  which  it  follows,  that  it  is  possible 
to  make  God,  as  the  eternal,  its  object :  or,  call  it 
truth,  and  we  may  see  that  its  fruition  must  partake 
of  its  own  nature. 

Now,  we  read,  that  it  is  not  common  for  moM  to 
love  and  pursue  the  good  and  the  true  because  they 
are  of  this  nature ;  but,  on  the  contrary,  and  herein 
lies  the  great  error  of  life,  ive  call  that  good  ivhich 


ALCHEMY  AND  THE  ALCHEMISTS.        295 

we  desire.  From  all  which  we  may  see  that  vast 
consequences  depend  upon  the  object  of  desire, 
which,  as  is  said,  may  as  naturally  be  the  eternal 
as  the  transient, — the  attainable  and  endurable  as 
well  as  the  unattainable  and  the  unendurable,  — 
when  suitable  conditions  exist  for  it.  But  here 
great  caution  is  necessary  to  guard  against  merely 
mechanical,  or  purely  fanciful,  theories  in  dealing 
with  this  subject. 

I  find  nowhere  in  the  books  of  the  genuine  Alche- 
mists any  tendency  to  mere  mechanical  theories. 
One  writer  dates  the  commencement  of  an  im- 
portant advance  from  his  discovering,  as  he  says, 
that  Nature  acts  magically,  and  not  Peripatetically. 
Another  rebukes  a  formalist  by  the  question.  Can 
you  tell  the  reason  why  a  lion  shakes  his  tail  when 
he  is  angry,  and  a  dog  when  he  is  pleased  ? 

Another  point  ought  to  be  mentioned  touching 
desire  and  love,  —  that  aversion,  the  opposite  of  de- 
sire, and  hate,  the  opposite  of  love,  are  not  indepen- 
dent affections,  but  exist  in  virtue  of  desire  and 
love  respectively ;  that  is,  we  do  not  naturally  hate 
anything  in  itself,  but  we  hate  that  which  impedes 
or  obstructs  us  in  the  pursuit  of  what  we  love  ;  and 
so,  in  like  manner,  we  are  averse  to  and  turn  from 
what   hinders   us   in   the   prosecution  of  what  we 


296        ALCHEMY  AND  THE  ALCHEMISTS. 

desire.  If,  then,  desire  be-  turned  to  one  only 
eternal  thing,  the  nature  of  man  taking  its  character 
from  his  leading  or  chief  desire,  the  whole  man  is 
gradually  converted  to,  or,  as  some  think,  transmut- 
ed into,  that  one  thing,  provided  we  know  the  true 
one  only  eternal  thing. 

But  to  know  this  one  only  thing  is  the  secret  of 
Alchemy.  This  I  suppose  to  be  that  which  Plato 
speaks  of  as  being  contained  in  the  smallest  com- 
pass, which  can  never  be  forgotten  or  lost,  but 
which  cannot  be  learned  like  other  knowledge. 

But  I  have  no  hope  of  making  that  clear  to  oth- 
ers which  is  not  clear  to  myself,  and  my  only  inten- 
tion is,  by  these  and  the  like  suggestions,  to  show 
jor  oh  abilities  as  to  the  real  subject  of  the  writers,  and 
that  it  is  INIan,  or  Nature  and  Man  (Sulphur  and 
Mercury),  which  they  would  have  us  understand 
through  or  by  means  of  "  one  only  thing,"  whatever 
that  is,  though  "it  be  not  very  far  from  any  one 
of  us." 

I  ought  to  add,  having  referred  to  the  use  of  the 
word  Fire^  that  the  Alchemists  used  this  w^ord  to 
indicate,  among  other  things,  trials  of  all  sorts,  to 
which  man  is  exposed.  The  writers  say  of  their 
Stone,  that  it  can  endure,  in  this  sense,  any  fo'e, 
saying,  in  another  sense,  that  it  is  Fire  itself;   for 


ALCHEMY  AND  THE  ALCHEMISTS.        297 

nature,  as  a  principle,  cannot  be  consumed  in  itself, 
all  of  its  metamorphoses  being  superficial  and  tran- 
sient, the  substance  remaining  subject  only  to  the 
power  of  God,  the  eternal  conatiis  or  force  by  which 
it  exists. 

With  regard  to  interpretation  in  general,  the 
reader  will  find  many  useful  rules  in  the  Tract  by 
Plutarch,  entitled,  Hoio  a  Young  Man  ought  to 
Hear,  or  Read,  Poems,  —  where  examples  of  poetry 
are  given,  drawn  from  the  most  ancient  poets,  with 
explanations  derived  from  principles  of  philosophy. 
But  by  philosophy  we  must  understand  Truth,  or, 
finally,  Nature.  Plutarch,  indeed,  assumes  that  his 
philosophy  is  true,  and  then  endeavors  to  "  accom- 
modate and  reconcile"  poetry  to  it;  but  we  may 
remember  that  philosophy  itself  must  be  tested  by 
the  possibility  of  nature,  and  then  the  rules  fur- 
nished by  Plutarch  for  the  interpretation  of  poetry 
will  be  seen  to  be  applicable  to  the  interpretation  of 
philosophy  also,  for  nature  is,  prior  to  all  philoso- 
phies of  nature. 

Some  of  Plutarch's  rules  and  applications  are  so 
pertinent  to  the  subject  I  have  in  hand,  that  I  will 
recite  a  few,  which  the  ingenious  reader  may  find 
applicable  in  other  subjects. 

"  But  of  all  things,"  says  he,  "  it  is  most  neces- 


298  ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS. 

sary,  and  no  less  profitable,  if  we  design  to  receive 
profit,  and  not  injury,  from  the  Poets  [the  ancient 
mythological  poets  are  referred  to],  that  we  under- 
stand how  they  make  use  of  the  names  of  gods ;  as 
also  of  the  terms  of  evil  and  good;  and  what  they 
mean  by  the  soul,  and  fortune  and  fate;  and 
whether  these  words  are  always  taken  by  them 
in  one  and  the  same  sense,  or  rather  sometimes  in 
various  senses;   and  so  of  many  other  words." 

"  Whensoever,  therefore,  anything  is  spoken  in 
poems  [or  any  other  books  whatever,  we  may  add] 
concerning  gods,  or  dcemoris,  or  virtue,  that  is  ab- 
surd or  harsh,  he  that  takes  such  sayings  for 
truths  is  thereby  misled  in  his  apprehension,  and 
corrupted  with  an  erroneous  opinion." 

In  this  connection  Plutarch  quotes:  — 

"  Joyed  was  the  goddess,  for  she  much  did  prize 
A  man  that  was  alike  both  just  and  wise,"  — 

and  says,  that  we  are  taught  by  it,  that  "  Deity 
delights  not  in  a  rich  or  a  strong  man ;  but  in  one 
that  is  furnished  with  both  wisdom  and  justice." 
"Again,"  he  continues,  "when  the  same  goddess 
(Minerva)  saith,  that  the  reason  why  she  did  not 
desert  or  neglect  Ulysses  was, 

'  'Cause  he  was  wise,  and  gallant  things  designed, 
And  pondered  noble  projects  in  his  mind,'  — 


ALCHEMY  AND  THE  ALCHEMISTS.       299 

she  therein  tells  us,  that,  of  all  things  pertaining  to 
us,  nothing  is  dear  to  the  gods  but  that  wherein  we 
resemble  them,  to  wit,  our  virtue ;  seeing  that  lik- 
ing is  produced  by  likeness.''^ 

In  another  place  Plutarch  cites  a  line  to  the  effect 
that, 

"Except  what  men  think  such,  there  's  nothing  good  or  ill"; 

which  he  says  must  be  corrected  by  reference 
to  another,  thus  :  — 

"  But  what 's  so  is  so,  think  men  what  they  will." 

These  two  lines  express,  we  may  see,  the  doc- 
trine in  Plutarch  (as  it  is  also  in  Plato)  stated  in 
the  third  question  of  the  sixth  part  of  the  Symposi- 
acs,  to  wit,  '•^That  must  first  exist  which  hath  no 
need  of  any  other  thing  that  it  may  exist ;  and  that 
after,  which  cannot  be  without  the  concurrence  of 
another  thing";  for  the  second  of  the  above  lines 
expresses  what  is  called  the  substance  of  things, 
the  first  expressing  its  qualities  or  accidents,  as  Ar- 
istotle called  them.  It  is  worth  remarking,  that  in 
this  unostentatious  passage  Plutarch  has  exactly 
hit  off  the  definitions  of  Substance  and  3Iode,  by  a 
distinguished  philosopher  of  the  seventeenth  cen- 
tury, said  to  lie  at  the  root  of  his  philosophy.  The 
protection  of  the  student  against  delusion  in  such 


300 


ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS. 


definitions  is  to  ask  himself  what  idea  he  has  of 
anything^  to  the  existence  of  which  nothing  is  con- 
ceived as  necessary  but  itself;  but  he  must  not  look 
to  books  for  any  such  idea. 
Plutarch  quotes  :  — 

"  Of  counsel  given  to  mischievous  intents, 
The  man  that  gives  it  most  of  all  repents  " ;  — 

and  he  explains  that  these  lines  "  are  of  near  kin  to 
what  we  find  in  the  determinations  of  Plato,  in  his 
books  entitled  Gorgias,  and  Concerning-  the  Com- 
momvealtli ;  to  wit,  that  it  is  worse  to  do  than  to 
svffer  injury;  and,  that  a  man  more  endanger eth 
himself  ichen  he  hurts  another^  than  he  icould  be 
damnified  if  he  loere  the  sufferer^  (Because  to  be 
injured  is  outward,  but  to  injure  is  a  sign  of  an 
inward  wrong;  the  one  is  a  surface  injury,  the  other 
vital,  &c.) 

Then  he  quotes  :  — 

"  Seest  not  how  Jove,  because  he  cannot  lie, 
Nor  vaunt,  nor  laugh  at  impious  drollers-, 
And  pleasure's  charms  are  things  to  him  unknown, 
Among  the  Gods  wears  the  imperial  crown  ?  " 

And  he  tells  us,  that  these  lines  teach  "  the  same 
doctrine  that  is  found  in  Plato,  to  wit,  that  the  Di- 
vine Nature  alone  is  incapable  of  feeling  joy  or 
grief:' 


ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS.  301 

This  doctrine  occurs  in  Plato's  Third  Letter 
(to  Dionysius),  and  is  stated  in  Philebus,  correctly- 
translated  by  Taylor,  Vol.  IV.  p.  511,  but  inaccu- 
rately rendered  by  Burges,  Vol.  IV.  p.  47. 

As  this  doctrine,  as  stated  in  Philebus,  comes 
from  Protarchus,  instead  of  Socrates,  we  might  con- 
sider it  as  a  mere  suggestion  to  be  overthrown  in 
the  course  of  the  Dialogue ;  but  the  same  doctrine 
being  stated  directly  by  Plato  in  the  letter  referred 
to^  we  are  at  liberty  to  consider  it  a  definitely 
formed  opinion,  and  must  explain  it  by  reference 
to  the  notion  previously  expressed,  of  that  which 
exists  of  itself,  or  that  to  the  conception  of  which 
no  other  conception  is  necessary.  This  existence  of 
itself,  as  it  is  sometimes  called,  is  what  was  sup- 
posed without  quality,  and  therefore  incapable  of 
either  pleasure  or  pain. 

I  only  refer  to  this  to  exhibit  Plutarch's  mode  of 
illustration. 

As  different  writers  used  different  words  for  the 
same  thing,  as  already  intimated,  and  expressed  dif- 
ferent things  by  the  same  word,  no  general  rule  of 
interpretation  can  be  given  applicable  to  all  of  the 
writings.  Each  writing,  for  the  most  part,  was 
obliged  to  be  interpreted  by  itself ;  but  by  reading  a 

26 


302  ALCHEMY    AND    THE    ALCHEMISTS. 

few  of  the  best  authors,  and  weighing  carefully  what 
each  one  said,  with  a  constant  reference  to  Nature. 
the  student  might  soon  begin  to  perceive  to  what, 
in  the  main,  the  writers  referred,  or  of  what  they 
treated.  The  next  step  might  have  been  a  sifting 
of  the  writings  themselves,  so  as  to  exclude  the 
worthless  and  indifferent,  the  attention  becoming 
confined  to  some  few  authors ;  to  which  the  author 
of  the  Marroiv  of  Alchemy  refers  :  — 

"  But  thou  of  Truth  a  lover,  be  advised, 
Beware,  and  be  not  easily  seduced, 
For  be  thou  sure  that  all  that  is  devised 
By  such,  this  Art  to  treat  who  were  induced 
By  envy,  is  not  true ;  nay,  very  little 
In  some  books,  and  in  some  scarce  a  tittle. 

"  For  know  this  Art  u  virgin  pure  remains, 
Though  many  lovers  do  her  fondly  sue ; 
She  scorns  a  Sophister,  and  still  disdains 
A  breast  for  to  inhabit  that 's  untrue. 

Yet  many  press  to  win  the  golden  fleece  ; 
'T  is  that  they  gape  for  as  the  masterpiece. 

"But  a  true  Son  of  Art  doth  wisdom  prize 

Bej-ond  all  earthly  good,  and  his  desire 

To  it  is  bent,  ne  fondly  doth  devise 

By  riches  to  ambition  to  aspire ; 
His  studies  all  to  knowledge  are  inclined, 
Prizing  alone  the  riches  of  the  mind." 


ALCHEMY  AND  THE  ALCHEMISTS. 


303 


The  books  being  sifted,  and  a  few  only  retained, 
—  such  as  the  Hermetical  Triumph;  Artephius  (in 
Salmon's  Clavis  Alchymice) ;  Espagnet's  Arcanum ; 
The  Open  Entrance  to  the  Shut  Palace  of  the  King ; 
Ripley's  Compound  of  Alchemy,  but  more  especially 
Ripley  Revived,  by  Cosmopolita;  The  Marroio  of 
Alchemy ;  Zoroaster^ s  Cave ;  Aurifontina  (a  small 
volume,  containing  fourteen  treatises,  including  the 
excellent  letter  of  Bernard  Trevisan  to  Thomas  of 
Bononia)  ;  Sandivogius ;  Pernety's,  or  Gaston  le 
Doux's  Dictionary,  both  valuable ;  Basil  Valentine  ; 
Isaac  Hollandus;  and  some  other  works,  not  for- 
getting those  of  Hermes,  whose  Smaragdine  Table 
is  said  to  contain  the  whole  Art,  though  comprised 
in  a  page  or  two  ;  —  the  books  being  sifted,  I  say, 
the  student,  after  passing  through  various  transi- 
tions of  confidence  and  doubt,  prizing  the  books 
highly  and  verging  upon  a  contempt  for  them,  may 
finally  be  content  to  use  them  as  means  only,  and, 
having  his  attention  directed  to  one  only  thing,  may 
at  last  strike  the  key-note  which  reduces  to  har- 
mony all  discords  :  and  then,  some  of  the  writers 
say,  he  m_ay  burn  his  library ;  for  the  Truth  is  prior 
to  the  books  expressing  it,  and  remains  unaffected 
by  all  the  perversities  of  man  in  the  treatment  of  it. 
The  Art  cannot  be  false,  however  men  err  about  it, 


304       ALCHEMY  AND  THE  ALCHEMISTS. 

SO  these  writers  say ;  and  when  discovered,  it  is 
found  to  be  true  in  all  countries,  under  all  govern- 
ments, and  in  view  of  all  religions. 

The  awe  with  which  all  of  the  writers  approach 
the  subject  is  very  remarkable,  and  their  unwilling- 
ness to  write  openjy  of  it  seems  to  be  of  a  Pythago- 
rean character.  They  seem  to  understand  also 
that  contemplation  and  controversy  cannot  keep 
company ;  for  though  the  latter  may  sometimes 
sharpen  one's  wits,  it  always  disturbs  the  balance, 
the  judgment,  whose  equipoise  is  so  necessary  in  all 
cases,  but  especially  in  a  student  of  nature.  Hence 
the  recommendation  of  Espagnet  in  taking  leave  of 
his  reader,  already  recited  :  — 

"  Farewell,  diligent  reader :  in  reading  these 
things,  invocate  the  spirit  of  Eternal  Light ;  speak 
little,  meditate  much,  and  judge  aright." 


THE    END. 


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